Suryakumar Yadav fails miserably to defend Axar Patel's promotion to No.3, coach gives absurd logic minutes later

When they lost vice-captain Shubman Gill in the very first over of the 214-run chase - Gill was out for a golden duck - in walked Axar Patel at No.3. There was Suryakumar Yadav, one of the world's most destructive T20I batters despite his recent form and India's Mr consistent in T20Is, Tilak Varma. If they wanted another left-hander, Tilak, who has scored centuries while batting at No.3, should have been promoted. And coming to think of it, why would they need two left-handers in the middle when Abhishek Sharma was already there?
The go in and hit out logic also doesn't apply to Axar. He scored 21 off 21 balls with a boundary and a six when the required rate was over 11 runs per over.
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"We just thought in the last game, we have seen Axar bat really well in the longer format. And we wanted him to bat back the same way today as well. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, but he did bat well. But we will see what's up for us going on in the next game," Suryakumar Yadav said in the post-match presentation after India's 51-run defeat.
It clearly lacked conviction and logic. Something similar was repeated by assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate in the press conference.
“We are trying things combination-wise, we've got eight or nine games now before the World Cup. And I guess again, being quite frank, we found ourselves being 35 for three more times than we would have liked in the last couple of months," said ten Doeschate.
"So it's just an exploration into how we can extend the batting, you know, the link between the openers and the guys we want to come in and smash it around, maybe when things do get a little bit tricky."
It's not like Axar was promoted for the first time in T20Is, nor is there any doubt about his capabilities as a batter, but the sheer lack of logic in sending him ahead of Surya and Tilak in a 214-run chase and then asking him to bat like an anchor was the problematic part on Thursday.
India lost three early wickets in the powerplay and never recovered despite a fighting half-century from Tilak Varma (62 off 34) coming in to bat at No.5. They were bowled out for 162 in 19.1 overs.
With the five-match series levelled at 1-1, the third fixture will be played in Dharamsala on Sunday.