Gambhir rejects Shreyas' pitch claim after India bowled out for 89 in Mount Maunganui

New Zealand beat India by 244 runs in the fourth ODI at Mount Maunganui on Friday after bowling the visitors out for 89 in 26.4 overs, and India head coach Gautam Gambhir dismissed Shreyas Iyer's suggestion that the pitch had changed while criticising the batting display.

New Zealand posted 333 in their 50 overs, with Will Young scoring a century, and Matt Henry then produced a new-ball spell that finished with six wickets for 27 runs to hand the hosts a 244-run victory. India's top order collapsed early: Rohit Sharma and stand-in captain Shreyas Iyer were out for ducks and Matt Henry also dismissed Virat Kohli during the chase; India never recovered and were all out inside 27 overs. With the 2027 ODI World Cup less than a year away, Gambhir said India needed to learn to cope with such conditions rather than blame the surface.

Shreyas Iyer pointed to a change in the wicket between the innings during the post-match presentation, saying: "There was a huge difference between the wickets between innings." He added that he felt Indian batters had not thrown their wickets away and credited New Zealand's bowlers for getting the ball to move sharply.

Gambhir rejected that assessment at the post-match press conference, arguing India should have negotiated the early overs. "There are no unplayable deliveries in international cricket. We needed to see off the first 10 overs. Matt Henry bowled in good areas, but we should be able to negate that," he said.

The India head coach warned the conditions in New Zealand offered useful preparation for the World Cup and said he was concerned by the batting unit's failure despite an experienced line-up. "You're always concerned when you get bundled out for 90-odd. Why won't I be concerned? These are conditions which are going to be closest to what we might get during the World Cup," he said.

Gambhir singled out the speed of the collapse as the main worry and referenced India's earlier batting problems in the series. "The bigger concern is not the runs. It's how quickly we got bundled out, around 26 or 27 overs. That is something which is always a concern," he added, and recalled that in the previous ODI India had slipped to 111 for seven while chasing a revised target of 135 in a rain-affected match before winning under the DLS method. On the need for preparation he said: "Even in the last game, we were seven down for 111. It is a bit of a concern. We need to be mentally and skill-wise ready. 35-40/0 is fine in conditions like these. We have experience and can hopefully adapt in the last game."

Gambhir also criticised the batters' technique against movement and defended the bowling unit while lamenting missed chances in the field. "I don't go into technicalities. There wasn't a lot of deviation; it's the job of the batter to negate movement. More than seam, areas and length created problems for us. We got stuck in the crease," he said, and added: "Aqib Nabi was unlucky; had we got Will Young, it could have been different. There's always hindsight. We dropped catches and will have to pay for it. All of us should be proud of our bowling unit."

The 244-run win kept New Zealand in contention to level the five-match series, and India will now aim for an improved batting performance in the final ODI.