Former Indian cricket team batter Sadagoppan Ramesh slammed the team management for tinkering with the batting line-up in the second T20I match against Australia. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav demoted himself to No. 4 with Sanju Samson coming to bat at No. 3 while Harshit Rana was sent out to bat ahead of Shivam Dube. This also meant that Tilak Varma came out to bat at No. 5. India were all out for 125 and Australia went on to clinch the match by 4 wickets. Ramesh asked the team management to stop ‘playing musical chairs’ with the batting order and pointed out that constant changes can end up causing confusion among the Indian cricket team batters.

“India needs to stop playing musical chairs with their batting order. They would have had a great chance of winning if they had scored 160 to 170. Didn’t Suryakumar Yadav play well at No. 3 in the last match? He was not out as well. Then why send Sanju Samson at No. 3,” Ramesh said on Instagram.

“He went from opening to No. 5 and now from 5 to 3. Because of this everyone is looking at each other in confusion on who might go in to bat next. Tilak Varma won India the Asia Cup final at No. 4 and you moved him to No. 5.”

Ramesh also criticised the move to send Harshit ahead of Dube and said that the team management should focus on the players’ strengths. Dube came out to bat at No. 8 with five overs left in the innings and Ramesh added that the cricketers need to deliver with their primary skill.

“Someone who cooks well can’t be made a driver and a good driver can’t become the cook. Likewise, the management should focus on each player’s strength and main role in the team and aim to get the best out of them in that role. If they do something extra, that’s well and good,” he said.

“But their secondary skill should not become the primary role and I fear that’s happening in this Indian team. A bowler who can bat needs to deliver with the ball first and likewise a batter who can bat must deliver with the ball first. The management needs to be clear on this. That’s where India are slipping right now,” he added.