India's Axar Patel in action. (FILE photo)

India were in a bit of bother at 39/3 in the second ODI in Wellington after Rohit Sharma fell. The Indian team management decided to bring Axar Patel on at number 6. Although he has played crucial innings in difficult situations before, the pitch’s behaviour made facing the quality Kiwi bowlers look like an uphill task on Saturday, and he looked a little out of sorts.

Despite criticism and questions about the decision, former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar agreed with the tactic of sending a left-hander up the order to break the sequence of right-handers.

“The bowlers have slight difficulty if a left-handed batter comes because you have to change the line and length you would have for a right-hander. In trying to do that, your line can change slightly even to the right-hander, where more chances of getting runs are created,” Gavaskar explained, speaking on Sony Sports Network after the game.

However, Axar scored only seven runs from seventeen deliveries.…