India vice-captain spills Gautam Gambhir's surprise middle-order strategy against ENG in T20Is

Team India vice-captain Axar Patel has recently disclosed that the team management has opted for a flexible middle order strategy in the upcoming T20Is against England. The Indian team has been showcasing a fearless style of cricket following the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. With Suryakumar Yadav leading the team, they have been performing exceptionally well. Emerging talents like Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy have been making impressive progress, while established players like Sanju Samson, Rinku Singh, and Hardik have been holding their ground. The transition period seems to be going smoothly for Team India as they continue to dominate on the field.

Meanwhile, head coach Gautam Gambhir has also indicated the importance of having all-rounders in the squad.

Talking to reporters ahead of the series opener against England on Wednesday, the spin bowling all-rounder said only openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma could expect to have a fixed batting slot.

"...the openers are fixed but everyone from numbers three to seven have been told that they can come into bat anytime, in any situation," Patel said.

"Our middle order will come to bat depending on the match situation, what kind of bowlers are bowling at the time, which match-up works well.

"We've spoken about that, how we can all be floaters, be it coming in early or obviously finishing."

“In T20 Internationals, how you use your batters is so crucial, so this is an important factor in batting.”

In the last T20I series against South Africa, Surya and Gambhir made a bold decision to promote Tilak Varma up in the batting order at number 3 which worked wonders for them. The left-handed Mumbai Indians batter slammed a couple of centuries on the Proteas soil to showcase his fine batting credentials.

Apart from Tilak, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar and Rinku Singh have also often had their batting positions changed in India's recent games.

‘World Cup is coming up in a year so…’

While 50-overs cricket remains their priority with the Champions Trophy looming, Axar said India were already planning their title defence at next year's T20 World Cup, which they will co-host with Sri Lanka.

"The World Cup is coming up in a year so how we approach leading up to that, we want to try it from now itself. That's the main target," Axar said.

India are without pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah against England and will hope Mohammed Shami, back in the side after a year on the sidelines, impresses on his return from an ankle injury.

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