T20 World Cup 2021:  "We haven't seen a better white-ball cricketer than Rohit Sharma" - Gautam Gambhir slams India for vice-captain's demotion

Gautam Gambhir lashed out at Team India for demoting Rohit Sharma to no.3 in a must-win encounter against New Zealand on Sunday. The former opener labeled Sharma as India's best white-ball cricketer, saying that changing his batting position was "negative thinking" from the think tank.

India slumped to a heavy eight-wicket defeat against Kane Williamson's men. With Suryakumar Yadav being unavailable, India included Ishan Kishan in the playing XI. The southpaw opened alongside KL Rahul with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to follow. But the move didn't pay dividends as none of the top four scored more than 18 runs and India could only put up 110 runs on the board.

Gautam Gambhir's remarks came while speaking on a chat with ESPNcricinfo. He also said India, expecting Ishan Kishan to play better than Rohit Sharma at the top of the order, had led bare the issues in the team and displayed a "wrong mindset".

Gautam Gambhir said:

"If you expect Ishan Kishan to do something that Rohit Sharma can't then there are issues and it's the wrong mindset. If you are thinking that Ishan Kishan will give you a flying start of 60 runs in the first six overs and then Virat and Rohit can come and milk it, it is wrong because we haven't seen a better white-ball cricketer than Rohit Sharma. The player has four T20I hundreds and you are still batting him at No.3 then it's negative thinking."

Kishan (4 off 8) got out playing a lofted flick off his pads against Trent Boult that went straight to the fielder at square leg. Rohit (17 off 17), meanwhile, was looking good after getting dropped on the first ball, but he mistimed a loose short ball from Ish Sodhi to long on. New Zealand chased the target with more than five overs to spare.

Click here to view the full list of ICC T20 World Cup 2021 team and squads.

"There's panic in the dressing room" - Gautam Gambhir

Like many others in the cricket fraternity, Gautam Gambhir assessed India's changes to the batting order as a sign of "panic in the dressing room". He said the team could have played Kishan at no.3 and the skipper at no.4 instead.

Gautam Gambhir said:

"You could have opened with Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul and if Virat Kohli had to play at No.4 only then Ishan Kishan could have come at No.3. I believe that one change forces you to make a lot more. Virat Kohli changed his own position, Rohit Sharma's position - this shows your mentality and that there's panic in the dressing room."

India's next match is against Afghanistan starting at 7:30 IST in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, November 3.