Shane Watson has blamed India’s inconsistency under Gautam Gambhir on one habit: constant changes to the batting order and the playing XI. The former Australia all-rounder said it on Prime Video Australia and New Zealand’s YouTube channel, with India midway through a five-match T20I series against West Indies.
His verdict was simple. Too many players are moving in and out, and too few stay in one role long enough to settle. It is not the first time player security under Gambhir has been questioned.
The team sheet only shows a name moving two places. What it hides is the week of preparation that move cancels.
“The thing that you continue to see and the reason India have been inconsistent under Gambhir is the chopping and changing around the batting order all the time. Players are coming in and out always, and when the team is unsettled, be it the batting order or players coming in and out, that just makes it more difficult for the team to be consistent. That’s why India have been so inconsistent.”
Shane Watson, Prime Video Australia and New Zealand YouTube channel, reported 9 October 2026
Shane Watson feels Gautam Gambhir’s frequent changes to the team are the reason behind India’s inconsistency. 🇮🇳👀🗣️
#India #GautamGambhir #Sportskeeda https://t.co/GGD70lUfSp
— Sportskeeda (@Sportskeeda) October 9, 2026
Insider Read
In modern T20, a batter does not train for a number. He trains for a phase of the match. Each phase is its own job in the nets: hitting a swinging new ball in the powerplay, finding boundary options against spin from overs 7 to 15, and building the muscle memory to get bat on wide yorkers at the death.
Send that batter two places up or down on match day and you are not just changing a name on a whiteboard. You are throwing a full week of focused preparation in the bin. He walks out to face a phase he never trained for, and that is where the inconsistency Watson sees begins.
The Results Behind the Criticism
The West Indies series so far shows both sides of the argument.
| Match | Venue | India | West Indies | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st T20I, 6 Oct | Lucknow | 172/2 | 171 all out | India won by 8 wickets |
| 2nd T20I, 9 Oct | Ranchi | 249/5 | 252/4 (18.3 overs) | West Indies won by 6 wickets |
Ranchi complicates Watson’s claim. India posted their highest T20I total against West Indies and still lost. Shai Hope made 102 off 45 and Sherfane Rutherford 84 off 37 in the second highest successful chase in T20I history.
The churn Watson describes was visible before the series began. India were still choosing between Sanju Samson and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to open with Abhishek Sharma. Samson then top scored in Ranchi with 82 off 41.
Gambhir sees it differently. After the 2-1 T20I series win in Australia in November 2025, he told the BCCI that batting orders are overrated, except for the two openers. Watson’s argument is the direct opposite.
Watson still credited Gambhir for backing Samson, who repaid that faith in the T20 World Cup knockouts. His fix is more continuity. With it, he believes India would be extremely hard to beat.
Mixed results explain why the point lands. India have won the Champions Trophy and the T20 World Cup under Gambhir. They have also lost home Test series to New Zealand and South Africa, and a home ODI series to New Zealand.
After West Indies, India travel to New Zealand for two Tests, five ODIs and five T20Is. The selection calls on that tour are the next measure of Watson’s point.
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