India head coach Gautam Gambhir emphasised the need for a more balanced contest between bat and ball in white-ball cricket following the high-scoring second T20 International against the West Indies in Ranchi on October 10.Addressing reporters after the match, Gambhir remarked, “You don’t want a good bat-and-ball competition? What you want to see, that’s also what we want to see. We also want to see an even contest.” He expressed concerns over the impact of batting-friendly pitches on the careers of bowlers, stating, “These bowlers are our bowlers, not someone else’s bowlers. Their careers are at stake, they have worked hard to sit in this dressing room. If it’s an even competition, we’ll see a better game of cricket.”The match saw West Indies chase down India’s imposing total of 250 with nine balls to spare, levelling the five-match series 1-1. The game produced a combined total of 501 runs and 33 sixes in 38.3 overs, with conditions marked by a flat pitch and dew that challenged the bowlers.Gambhir had previously expressed similar concerns after India successfully chased 406 runs against the West Indies in the second ODI in Guwahati, completing the chase with 39 balls remaining.Despite the difficult conditions, Gambhir refused to attribute the defeat to the pitch and underscored the importance of improvement: “You don’t shrug off any defeat. If you want to keep improving, you don’t want to put anything under the carpet. We are a world-champion team so we want to keep improving. These are obviously tough conditions to bowl – we know flat wickets with the dew – obviously it’s tough but we need to figure out and find the way. Especially with the opposition having lost two wickets in the first over and then lost three wickets in the powerplay.” He also credited West Indies’ batsmen for their performance, saying, “But again, credit to West Indies, the way Shai Hope and Sherfane batted, we know they are world-class batters especially in the format. It was tough on us but we’re going to keep improving.”India started well with the ball, reducing the West Indies to 5 for 2 in the first over and 58 for 3 inside the powerplay. However, Shai Hope scored an unbeaten 102 off 45 balls and Sherfane Rutherford made 84 off 37 deliveries to secure the highest successful chase by the visitors in T20 Internationals.Mayank Yadav was a standout for India, taking 3 wickets for 36 runs in three overs. The fast bowler regularly bowled at around 145kph and reached 149.5kph when dismissing Rovman Powell, also removing Kamil Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer in the opening over.Gambhir supported Mayank’s approach of focusing on pace rather than variations, stating, “He is a fast bowler, he should bowl like a fast bowler. He isn’t a slower bowler. If you can bowl 150kph, bowl at 150kph, if you bowl at 120kph, bowl at 120kph. When you are playing as a fast bowler, it is your responsibility to bowl fast. And he did that today, getting success.”The Indian coach also praised Hope’s role in guiding the innings after early wickets, saying, “Shai is a world-class cricketer. We respect him for what he’s done in white-ball cricket, not only in the 50-over format but in this format as well. His record speaks for him. What he did today, especially after losing two wickets [in the first over]. To continue batting at run-rate of 12-plus [an over] with Sherfane, just shows how good they are when the wicket is flat and there’s dew. He batted deep which was important and in the end he finished the game. He was able to pace his innings really well.”Gambhir defended the decision to promote Shivam Dube to number four, ahead of Shreyas Iyer, despite a loss of momentum when India scored just 39 runs between overs 12 and 16.
“We’ve used him like this for a long period of time, even at the World Cup and before that. It was not just a one-off today. We’ve lost momentum today but we’ve gained a lot of momentum when he’s gone at No. 4 and taken down opposition bowlers,” Gambhir explained. “This is international cricket, sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t. And more importantly, we’ve always been flexible with our batting line-up and we’ll continue with it. I’ve said in T20 cricket only the openers are fixed.”India and West Indies will meet next in the third T20I at Indore, scheduled less than 48 hours after the Ranchi match, with the series tied at 1-1…
