India’s KL Rahul (AP Photo)

With the ODI series already secured after wins in the first two matches against Afghanistan, India have used this opportunity to test different combinations and assess players outside their established core group.Absence of senior personalities Virat Kohli, hardik pandya And Jasprit Bumrah has allowed the team management to experiment, especially with the batting order. Both Ishan Kishan And Shubman Gill He was given opportunities at No. 3, the position usually occupied by Kohli, and the pair responded with promising performances.However, one strategic decision has continued to spark debate. Despite being one of the most experienced batsmen in India’s top order, KL Rahul has once again been deployed in a finishing role lower down the order. While Rahul played a quickfire inning of 39 not out off 19 balls in the opening ODI, he was out without opening the account in the second match in Lucknow.Former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth believes that Rahul’s talent is not being fully utilized at the No. 6 position and feels that the wicketkeeper-batsman should be handed greater responsibility in the upper order.Speaking on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth said, “It is not good for KL Rahul and the team if he is batting at number six. In my opinion, he should bat at number four or five maximum. I think they can go by the rotation policy. Relax the certainties in a few games, give chances and then choose the team.”The former opening batsman also supported the rotation strategy in the remaining games, arguing that India should use the series to evaluate the team’s depth and identify its strongest combination ahead of future tournaments.Srikkanth also expressed concern over the schedule of the Afghanistan series and questioned whether the players were given enough time to recover after tough cricket. With the IPL and Men’s T20 World Cup having recently concluded, and the Women’s T20 World Cup currently underway, he felt the timing of the ODI series was far from ideal.“Afghanistan is not really a great team. It is sad. Now they are going to play in Chennai where it will be very hot. I don’t know how they will play there. It is not fair. I don’t think they should play in June. The T20 World Cup and IPL have just finished. Give them a break and the Women’s T20 World Cup is going on, why don’t we focus on that? Honestly, there should be a month’s break after the IPL. There is no family there.” time, no leave, and most importantly, no mental break,” he said.India will now enter the final ODI after clinching the series, while the discussion on Rahul’s batting position and the player’s workload remains the main issue.