South Africa batting legend AB de Villiers has expressed partial agreement with India head coach Gautam Gambhir's view that batting orders in ODI cricket are "overrated," while emphasizing the importance of balancing flexibility with clearly defined roles within the team.
Following India's 2-1 ODI series victory over South Africa, Gambhir had commented that batting orders are overrated in the ODI format. De Villiers, responding on his YouTube channel, stated, "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."
De Villiers elaborated that a batting lineup can be segmented into the top three, the middle order from four to six, and the tailenders who can hold the bat. He suggested that teams can employ creative strategies within these segments, such as alternating right- and left-hand combinations based on game situations.
In addition, de Villiers praised the Indian team's performance following their first T20I win against South Africa, which extended their impressive streak to 27 wins out of 31 games. He remarked, "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."
Gambhir feels that barring openers, the rest of the batting order shouldn't be rigid.
"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. In Test cricket, obviously, you've got to have a fixed batting order, but it is very, very overrated," he said after India's nine-wicket win in Vizag.