Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has reacted to India head coach Gautam Gambhir saying that batting orders are overrated in ODIs. After India’s 2-1 series win over the Proteas, Gambhir said that players have to be flexible with their roles barring the opening combination but De Villiers agrees with him only to an extent.
“I think in a one-day format, you should know the template that you want to play with. I’ve always believed that in white-ball cricket, batting orders are very overrated, except the opening combination,” said Gambhir in the press conference.
De Villiers feels that a coach can be creative with batting orders and he enjoyed a similar approach but he shouldn't cross the line, playing around with players' roles.
“I do agree with him to a certain extent. I’ve always enjoyed a floating batting lineup in ODIs. But it’s a fine line because you can’t really play around too much with the players’ roles. It’s the top three, four to six, and then your tailenders who can hold the bat. It’s almost like three segments, and you can really be creative with that. Play with right and left-hand combinations and certain situations of the game,” the 41-year-old.
ABD praises India’s T20 side
De Villiers also lauded the Indian T20 side for delivering consistent performances with less than a couple of months to go in T20 World Cup 2026. He feels that they are headed in the right direction.
“It has been incredible, especially for a T20 format. It’s the most volatile format of the three, and to have that kind of consistency tells you there must be something going on that’s heading in the right direction. I think it’s got to do with the depth of Indian cricket,” he said.
Big win to start five-T20I series
India started the T20I series with an emphatic win over Aiden Markram’s men. Hardik Pandya's unbeaten 28-ball 59 helped them post 175/6. Then, Indian bowlers delivered a clinical performance to bowl out visitors for 74 in 12.3 overs, their lowest score in the format. India won the game by a huge margin of 101 runs at Cuttack's Barabati Stadium and Pandya was adjudged 'Player of the match' for his all-round show. The second T20I is scheduled to be played on December 11 in New Chandigarh's Mullanpur.