Aakash Chopra Calls Out Gambhir for His Chaotic Number 3 Rotation

ByAnupam Pandey,SportsCafe Editor

Today at 4:27 PM

The Indian team suffered a terrible loss against South Africa in the second T20I. But this has also led to some questions on the batting order changes during the game. Axar Patel, a middle order batsman, was sent to bat at number three, when the target was above 200.

The Indian team is once again under scrutiny for its batting order changes. And this is not for the Test format, where the number three position has received major changes. This time, it is for the T20I format, where India will soon be entering the T20 World Cup 2026 as the defending champions.

In the second T20I against South Africa, India brought down Axar Patel to bat at number three. This was yet again a massive change for the team in its batting order, which turned to a loss by 51 runs. Following this loss, several fans and cricket analysts have criticised these shuffles in the team's batting line-up.

1. Aakash Chopra Comments on Batting Line-up Changes

Aakash Chopra is a well-known commentator and cricket analyst. He has also been very much active across his social media platforms, where he talks about how the team is performing across formats. And looking at India's batting line-up in yesterday's game, it was visible that even Aakash Chopra was not happy with the same.

He tweeted by saying, “Trying to wrap my head around the move to promote Axar at 3 yesterday.

One could understand if India were 25/3 and you wanted to stem the collapse. But at 3 while chasing 214? It also didn’t align with the left-right strategy. It didn’t play to his strengths to hit spinners either.

As a result, while he played 21 balls…Dube walked in with only 13 balls left.”

Not only did Aakash Chopra comment on the same, several other players have also raised questions. Robin Uthappa, a former Indian cricketer, also said that India cannot head into the T20 World Cup 2026 with this batting order changes. Now, there are questions being raised on who is the most suited as number three batsman in the T20I format for the Indian team.

2. India's Number 3 in T20Is in 2025

The Indian team has made several changes to its batting line-up in 2025. And these were not limited to the Test format, it has also been done in the T20Is. Having Tilak Varma to bat at number three helped India to win several games, but now, the changes have been happening consistently. Yesterday, fans saw another name being added to this list, as it was of Axar Patel.

In the first T20I against South Africa, Suryakumar Yadav, the Indian skipper came to bat at number three. The team also tried several batsmen at this spot during the India tour of Australia T20I series. The batsmen who were included at this spot were Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson.

These are just a few matches in which the team has made changes in the batting order. Heading into the T20 World Cup 2026, it will be a challenge for the Indian team to find a stable batsman at this spot. Currently, the opening spot of Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma remains the only fixed spot in the Indian team's batting line-up.

3. Who is Suited at Number 3?

Virat Kohli remained a stable batsman for the Indian team to bat at number three. He held this spot for decades and even helped India to win games which were once considered as lost. But he retired from the shortest format of the game after the T20 World Cup 2024. And since then, several players have been tried by the team at this position.

But for a time, it seemed that Tilak Varma could be the right option to bat at number three for the Indian team. He even played some valuable knocks for the Indian team while batting at this position, including his centuries against South Africa. And now, even he is not being sent to this spot.

Tilak Varma at Number 3:

Innings: 13
Not Out: 5
Runs: 443
Average: 55.37
Strike Rate: 169.73
100s: 2
50s: 2

With these stats, it can be seen that Tilak Varma has been able to do well for the Indian team at this position. But his batting order has seen several changes over the past few months. In one match he is seen coming to bat for the team at number three, while he gets demoted to bat at number seven in the next game.