Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth has slammed team management for India’s batting order after the T20 World Cup 2026 clash against the USA at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Saturday. The former Indian captain said Hardik Pandya should not bat lower than the number five position.
In the opening clash of the tournament, Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh batted at number five and six respectively whereas Hardik Pandya batted at number seven. Pandya was dismissed by the USA spinner Harmeet Singh after scoring only five runs.
Srikkanth said India should not give too much importance to the left-right batting combination.
Kris Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel, “India made a blunder. You can’t send Hardik Pandya into bat so late. He should come to bat at No.5. India got finished by this whole left-right misnomer. At 46/3, India needed to send Hardik Pandya. Instead, they sent Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh ahead. Rinku Singh just blindly slogged. Sending Hardik Pandya in so late was a big blunder.”
The former opener said Indian batters took the USA bowlers lightly as they were reduced to 77-6.
“It was a big scare for India. If Surya’s catch was taken, they would have probably been bowled out for 120. The reality check was, ‘Don’t take the opposition lightly’. It wasn’t overconfidence, but India shouldn’t take the opposition for granted. That’s the lesson learnt from today. They set Abhishek Sharma up beautifully, but Ishan Kishan was a bit unlucky as he just needed more elevation.”
Srikkanth questioned Hardik Pandya’s shot selection after he was caught at deep cover.
“Ofcourse Hardik Pandya played a wrong shot when he did bat. It was an overconfident shot by Hardik Pandya. He played a beautiful cover drive all along the ground before that. He played that backfoot cover drive a couple of times against New Zealand. But such overconfidence shouldn’t be there,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).
“Prioritising the left-right combination was the biggest mistake they did. That should be Hardik Pandya’s designated slot. At the moment, he’s India’s best player at No.5. The top three you are playing all left-handers because they are your best players at the spot. You mean to say Hardik Pandya tackle a left-arm spinner?,”
India will next take on Namibia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on February 12.
