Pant, Iyer’s Case Divides Gautam Gambhir And Ajit Agarkar, Triggers Heated Debate: Report

Team India’s 3-0 ODI series sweep against England does instill a lot of confidence in the team ahead of the start of the ICC Champions Trophy. With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli also showing signs of a return to form, the Indian team management can breathe a sigh of relief. But, there remain certain aspects of the team that a few experts aren’t confident about. One of the biggest concerns for them, going forward is the lack of clarity about India’s middle-order. In fact, a report has claimed that head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar aren’t on the same page over the selection cases of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, prompting a heated debate in the team too. 

When India’s preliminary Champions Trophy squad was picked, Agarkar had labelled Rishabh Pant as the No. 1 wicket-keeper in the team. But, he didn’t play a single ODI against England. After the conclusion of the series, head coach Gambhir clarified that KL Rahul is India’s No. 1 wicket-keeper in ODIs. The contradictory statements from the two pillars of the management don’t paint a pleasant picture.

“Ultimately, it’s very difficult to talk about individuals, but all I can say is that if Pant is a part of the squad, he will get an opportunity. But at the moment obviously, KL is our number one wicketkeeper, and he’s delivered for us. When you have two wicketkeepers in the squad, you can’t play both with the kind of quality we’ve got. Hopefully, whenever he [Pant] gets an opportunity, he should be ready for it,” Gambhir had said after the conclusion of the ODI series.

In the first ODI against England, the team had initially intended to keep Shreyas Iyer on the bench, while giving Yashasvi Jaiswal a chance at the top. But, an injury to Virat Kohli meant that Iyer played at the usual No. 3 spot, cracking a fiery half-century. The batter, since then, became a regular for the remaining two matches of the series. But, there seems to be some conflict in the team management over Iyer’s case too. 

In a chat with the Times of India, former selector Devang Gandhi lauded India coach Gautam Gambhir for helping the Indian team manage this transition but he also warned him to bring more consistency in the middle-order selection.

“Gambhir must be given due credit for working with a team in transition. He has got India dominating in the ODI format, much like India were doing from 2016-2019. What the selectors and Gambhir need to be careful about is consistency in the middle order,” Gandhi told TOI.

“The batting then was largely driven by the top three – Rohit, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli. What happened then was nobody else got time to settle down from No. 4 onwards. The rest of the batting wasn’t sure of the role they had to play. “When the top order collapsed in those big matches, the rest of the batting looked clueless. Hopefully, it isn’t the case this time. If they have identified Axar as a No. 5 batter then they must look to give him a run at that number. Axar has done well but the management has to decide if he is going to be a long-term option who can rebuild and dominate an innings till the 2027 World Cup in South Africa,” Gandhi said.

For two of the three ODIs against England, the management promoted bowling all-rounder Axar Patel ahead of KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya, a move that baffled many. Gandhi feels even the decision to bench Iyer, though it couldn’t be fulfilled, didn’t make any sense.

“The idea to bench Iyer at the start of the series didn’t make any sense, since Iyer has been exceptional in the 2023 ODI World Cup and India have played very few ODIs after the World Cup,” Gandhi said.