India’s 1983 World Cup winner Kris Srikkanth criticised the team management over KL Rahul’s batting position amid the ODI series against Afghanistan. The Men in Blue have already pocketed the series 2-0 with a game to go.

In the first ODI, KL Rahul batted at five and scored an unbeaten 39 off just 19 balls to help India win the game. However, in the second game, he was demoted to number six, where he failed to score, being dismissed for a duck. Srikkanth reckoned that Rahul batting at six was not good for him or the team either.

Further, talking about the World Cup squad and the experimentation in testing out players, Srikkanth suggested going by a rotation policy.

“It is not good for KL Rahul and the team if he is batting at six. In my opinion, he must bat at four or five max. I think they can go by rotation policy. Rest the certainties in some games, give chances, and then pick the side,” he said on his YouTube channel.

The final ODI of the three-match series will be played on Saturday, June 20, in Chennai. India will aim for a clean sweep and could look to further test their bench strength.

Kris Srikkanth believes the men’s cricket team should have had a break rather than playing the Afghanistan ODIs

Following the second ODI in Lucknow, which was played under extreme heat, Kris Srikkanth reckoned that the Indian men’s cricket team must have a break in June rather than playing a side like Afghanistan.

Advocating the importance of family time, time off, and mental breaks, he added that there should be no cricket for the men’s team for at least a month post the IPL.

“Afghanistan is not a great team really. It is sad. Now they are going to play in Chennai where it will be very hot. I don’t know how they will play there. It is not fair. I don’t think they should be playing in June. The T20 World Cup and IPL just got over. Give them a break and the Women’s T20 World Cup is going on, why don’t we focus on that? There should be a one month break after the IPL to be honest. There is no family time, no holiday, and most importantly no mental break,” he stated.

Post the Afghanistan series, the Men in Blue will travel to England for a multi-format white-ball series in July, which involves five T20Is and three ODIs.