Ashish Nehra criticises Gautam Gambhir for wasting big opportunity for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli

Add as a preferred source on Google

India lost their second ODI against Sri Lanka by 32 runs on Sunday, and now find themselves in a must-win situation to level the 3-match series 1-1. The Indian batting unit has collapsed twice after good starts in both the matches.

The first match ended in a tie after a 75-run opening stand, and in the second ODI the Indian openers scored 97 runs together but the Men in Blue were bundled out for 208 while chasing 241.

India have played with the same eleven in both the games, and now face the dilemma of whether to make any changes or not in the series-decider on Wednesday, August 7.

Ashish Nehra, the former teammate of captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir, was asked the same question after Sri Lanka took a crucial 1-0 lead. He did not give a direct answer but criticised Gambhir for focussing on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma when he could have tried out new players in the series.

As per reports, the senior batters made themselves available for the series after request from Gambhir. India's ongoing Sri Lanka tour is Gambhir's first assignment as India head coach, and he wanted to spend time with Kohli and Rohit.

Nehra opined that Gambhir could have waited as he isn't new to the two star players, and instead tried out other players and tested India's bench strength.

“The next series India play is 2-3 months later, a rare thing for us. So for players like Rohit and Kohli...I feel there was a better chance of giving opportunities to other players during this series. I know Gambhir is a new coach, and he wants to spend some time with the experienced players, but it isn't like he doesn't know the two of them," Ashish Nehra said on Sony Sports.

"He is not a foreign coach who wants to get his equation right with Kohli and Rohit. So it was a good opportunity for him to try out the new players, and Rohit and Kohli could play when the home season begins. I'm not saying it is a wrong approach, but it could have been one of the strategies in this series,” he added.

Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant, Harshit Rana and Khaleel Ahmed haven't featured in either of the two ODIs and it would be interesting to see if India make changes to their playing eleven for the third and final ODI. In general scenarios, teams test their bench strength after sealing the series with an unassailable lead.