Gautam Gambhir and Harshit Rana (Agency photo)
Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has questioned the Gautam Gambhir-led team’s management after pacer Harshit Rana was promoted ahead of Shivam Dube during India’s disastrous batting collapse in the third T20I against England at Trent Bridge. India’s chase of 202 quickly collapsed after Axar Patel was dismissed off the last ball of the fifth over, leaving the visitors reeling at 52/5. Instead of fielding Dube, the team management chose to promote Harshit Rana, a move that left Karthik stunned during commentary.
“Are you serious? Harshit Rana before Shivam Dubey? You can’t be serious,” Karthik said on air. Dube eventually came to the crease two overs later but failed to save the innings, scoring just two runs off four deliveries before he was dismissed by
Josh tongue
. Karthik admitted that he could not understand the decision to delay Dubey’s arrival, noting that it raised questions about the team’s confidence in the all-rounder. “Do they (team management) not trust Diop enough to send him at this stage? Instead, they promoted Harshit Rana ahead of him. I’m not sure this is the right way to do it,” he added. The selection call came during one of India’s worst batting performances ever in this format.
England piled on 201/7 after Phil Salt led the way with 70 off 44 balls, while Sam Curran scored 41 off just 24 deliveries on a challenging Trent Bridge surface. India’s reply never gained momentum despite Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hitting two early catches on 13 off five balls. The visitors collapsed from 23/0 to 76 in just 11.4 overs, with Josh Tonge taking 4/28 and Jofra Archer taking 3/29. The 125-run defeat was India’s biggest by runs in T20 internationals, surpassing their previous biggest loss of 80 runs to New Zealand in 2019. It also represents India’s second-lowest overall total in the format. The defeat gave England a 2-0 lead in the five-match series after the opening match was cancelled. India have now lost their last four completed matches in T20Is, following a 2-0 defeat in Ireland. captain
Shreyas Iyer
He described the performance as “horrible” after the match and admitted that his team needed to “completely go back to the drawing board”. England captain Harry Brook praised his team’s all-round display, saying: “We adapted well with the bat. Transferring that to our bowling was fantastic.” India must now win the remaining two matches to avoid losing the T20I series.