The 0-3 loss to New Zealand at home last year still haunts Gautam Gambhir. It cost India a berth in the World Test Championship final. The India head coach seems to have learnt his lessons. He isn’t willing to take any chances by playing on turners and opted for green and evenly balanced wickets against the West Indies.
Gambhir has called for more bounce and carry on pitches at home, after India spent 200 overs on the field across two West Indies innings on their way to a seven-wicket win in the second Test. India notched up the remaining 58 runs in the first hour on Tuesday, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
“I thought that we could have had a better wicket here,” Gambhir said at the post-match media conference. “Yes, we did get the result on Day V, 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 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, 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.”
India play their next Test series against South Africa at home from November 14 and it remains to be seen if the think-tank sticks to such tactics against the Kagiso Rabada-led attack.
Gambhir highlighted the importance of playing domestic cricket.
“I thought that the best thing that happened in the series was the way the Test guys prepared before the series. Going to play the India A game against Australia (A), it was very, very important. And playing Ranji Trophy before the South Africa series is going to be equally important.”