India head coach Gautam Gambhir has reiterated the importance of an even competition between bat and ball in the shortest format. Gambhir’s comments come in the aftermath of India’s six-wicket loss to West Indies in the second T20I in Ranchi on Friday.
chased down a target of 250 with six wickets and nine deliveries to spare, thus levelling the five-match T20I series 1-1. The manner of India’s defeat on Friday has reignited the debate of a fair contest between bat and ball in limited-overs formats.
In September, after the against West Indies wherein chased down 406, Gambhir had criticised the flat nature of the pitch, stating that it was a batting-only contest between the two teams.
“Who doesn’t want a good competition between bat and ball? Of course. What you want, we also want. If you only want to see sixes and fours, we want to see that too. If you want an even contest, then we also want an even contest, because bowlers are our bowlers too, right?,” the former India openers said during a press conference after the defeat in Ranchi on Friday.
Gambhir added that the careers of bowlers are at stake. “They aren’t foreign bowlers; their careers are also at stake. They also worked hard to sit in this dressing room; it’s not like they didn’t work hard.
“They have also worked hard. So if there is an even competition, it will be good, and better cricket will be seen,” the former Delhi cricketer stated.
Gambhir, however, stated that the Men in Blue must keep working hard in order to improve in difficult match situations.
“We are a world-champion team, so we want to keep improving. And obviously, these are tough conditions to bowl; we know that obviously, flat wickets, with the dew, obviously it’s tough, but we need to figure out a way to try and stop the opposition, especially when they lost two wickets in the first over, and three in the first six,” Gambhir said.
India, who were asked to bat first, posted 249/5 on the board after knocks from Sanju Samson (82), Ishan Kishan (43), Shreyas Iyer (40) and Tilak Varma (44*).
“Obviously, it was tough. But again, credit to West Indies, the way Shai HopeIND vs WI 2nd T20I, batted. We know that they are world-class batters, especially in this format, so obviously it was tough.
“But we’re going to keep improving. The bottom line is that we could not defend 250. They batted extremely well. They deserved to win, and we still have a lot of work to do. When you’re playing against dangerous teams like the West Indies, we need to figure out how to defend, especially when you lose the toss,” the 44-year-old added.
The two teams will next travel to Indore for the third T20I that will take place at the Holkar Stadium on Sunday.
