Bounce and carry a must-have on Indian pitches, says Gambhir after toiling on a Delhi pitch that had neither.
Gambhir wants bounce and carry on Indian pitches.
After India spent almost 200 overs on the ground over two West Indies innings en route to a seven-wicket victory in the second Test that concluded on Tuesday, head coach Gautam Gambhir has urged for more bounce and carry from pitches in home Test matches.
In response to their 3-0 loss against New Zealand the previous year, India has shifted away from square turners and towards surfaces with better bat-ball balance. India scored high first-inning totals against the West Indies in both Test matches, but even though the Ahmedabad surface provided their bowlers with plenty of support in the first Test, they had to put in a lot of effort to take 20 wickets in Delhi, especially after enforcing the follow-on.
“I thought that we could have had a better wicket here,” Gambhir said in his post-match press conference. “Yes, we did get the result on day five, but again, I think nicks need to carry. I think there has to be something for the fast bowlers as well. I know we keep talking about spinners playing an important role, but when you have got probably two quality fast bowlers in your ranks, we still want them to be in the game as well.
“And it is okay if there is not enough [turn], but there has to be carry. So where we all saw [that] carry wasn’t there, [it] was a bit alarming, and I think going forward, [I hope] we can get better wickets in Test cricket, because all of us have the responsibility of keeping Test cricket alive. I think the first and foremost thing to keep Test cricket alive is playing on good surfaces.”
Gambhir felt West Indies’ fightback with the bat in Delhi augured well for their future, after they had come into the Test match on a prolonged run of low totals.
“I have always believed that world cricket needs West Indian cricket,” Gambhir said. “That is something which is very important. It was very nice to see them fight. And obviously, they are an inexperienced team and there are a lot of changes that have happened there, but the way they fought in the second innings will give them a lot of confidence.”