Gautam Gambhir slams Guwahati wicket after India chase down 406 in second ODI

India head coach Gautam Gambhir criticised the flat Barsapara Stadium pitch in Guwahati after India chased down a record 406 against the West Indies in the second ODI on Wednesday, September 30. He raised concerns about the lack of contest between bat and ball following the high-scoring match.

Shubman Gill produced a double century and Rohit Sharma reached his 35th ODI century as India completed the chase; West Indies batters John Campbell, captain Shai Hope and Amir Jangoo also scored centuries. The game featured five centuries and more than 800 runs, and Gambhir was pictured with captain Gill during a training session at Greenfield International Stadium.

“If I have to be absolutely honest, I feel there has to be a bit more contest between bat and ball. This is not cricket, this is only batting. Imagine a young bowler bowling on this wicket, and the opposition getting 400 and then we go on to chase 400,” Gambhir told Parthiv Patel during a conversation with JioStar after winning the second ODI on Wednesday (September 30).

“Obviously, for the records, for the crowd, it's outstanding, but if you ask me as a genuine cricket fan and as a coach, because I have to have sympathy for the bowlers as well. When you bowl on this kind of a wicket, it's not fair for the bowlers. So, we've got to give something to the bowlers so there's at least something which they can work with,” he added.

“You need a bit of margin for the bowlers. Often, you can't be hard on bowlers, because sometimes bowling figures are such that they haven't bowled as poorly as their figures suggest. Because the margin is very small. Plus, with five fielders inside, two new balls, and the kind of power-hitting there is now, bowlers don't really have many options,” Gambhir said.

Young pacemen Gurnoor Brar and Auqib Nabi returned expensive figures, going for 96 and 84 respectively, and Gambhir defended the need to support them: “As a coach, as a support staff, the first thing you look at is: Were they able to execute their bowling or their plans properly? If they were able to do that, then you aren't that hard on them. If you get too hard just looking at their analysis, then we will never be able to develop bowlers. Auqib Nabi was playing his first game. So somewhere, you need to give them a bit of support and keep a bit of an extra cushion for them. But unfortunately, there wasn't much for any bowler in this game.”

On selection, Gambhir explained the reasoning for handing Nabi an India debut while the series was still alive: “We were 1-0 up in the series, but we gave Auqib an opportunity. We could have given him the opportunity in the next match too, when it's a dead rubber. But in a dead rubber, you don't have that pressure which comes with the pressure of winning a series. And we all know that the World Cup is all about pressure.” He also described the second ODI as a learning experience for Brar, saying: “For example, having Gurnoor bowl in the first 10 overs and then bowling at the death, I know people will talk about his analysis, but the more he bowls in tough conditions, in tough situations, the better it is for Indian cricket. Because you can have him (Gurnoor) bowl in the middle overs and get him to improve his analysis or stats and make him bowl defensively, but the more we expose them at such times, the better it is for Indian cricket.”

Gambhir declined to dwell on Gill's second double century but praised his captaincy and form: “I'm not going to talk about his records because records are meant to be broken. But I think the responsibility that he's taken, because a lot of times we feel that once you become a captain of two formats, you don't want your performance to go down, but his performance has only gone up since he took over as a captain in England.” He added: “He ticks all the boxes, he's a nice guy, he's got a lot of respect in the dressing room, people listen to him and, more importantly, his performances are showing as well. And the most impressive thing that I think of him is that he's becoming a bowlers' captain. He knows how difficult it is for the bowlers in this format, and once you do that, you will always earn that respect in the dressing room.”

Gambhir framed the match as valuable preparation for tournament pressure, saying the experience would be important ahead of major events: "Cricket isn't going to change much, bat and ball won't change, only the pressure will be different because the World Cup comes once in four years."