India did not have a great start to their three-match ODI series against Australia. The Men in Blue lost the first ODI at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday, October 19. After Mitchell Marsh won the toss and opted to bowl first, the Indian batters looked all at sea against the considerable bounce the track offered.

India promoted Axar Patel to No. 5 ahead of KL Rahul. Kris Srikkanth lambasted the Indian team management for this move. According to the former India captain, Rahul should have come into bat ahead of Shreyas Iyer, who walked out at No. 4.

"I told before only that KL Rahul should play ahead of Shreyas Iyer. It was an absurd decision by the team and management. You are leaving him and looking somewhere else. If he scores he scores a lot. Axar Patel going higher than KL is absolute rubbish," he said on his YouTube channel.

Axar scored 31 runs off 38 balls, hitting three boundaries. On the other hand, Rahul smashed 38 off 31 balls, belting two fours and as many sixes. They forged a 39-run stand off 40 deliveries to resurrect the Indian innings after some early setbacks.

"The point is not whether Axar played well or not. You have one of the best and classy player in your XI. KL should have come at five. If I was the captain I would even have sent him at four in fact. The conditions in the subcontinent are different than in Australia. He should be playing the maximum number of balls," Srikkanth added.

Nitish Kumar Reddy made his ODI debut in Perth. He walked out to bat at No. 8. Srikkanth believes that India missed a trick by not sending Nitish out to bat after Axar and Rahul were dismissed. The World Cup winner said that Australia could have been in a spot of bother if India had managed to post a 150-plus target.

"By any chance had they gone up to 160 and did not lose more wickets, the DLS score would be more and probably things could have favored India. If we talk neutrally rain actually saved them. Another mistake they made was by not sending Nitish after KL and Axar got out. You took him as a big hitter in the team then put him in front," Srikkanth said.

"Do not go behind the left-right combination. India started giving up after 60 or 70 for two. But if they had 150 on the board they would not have given up. It may have been difficult even for Marsh," he added.