Gautam Gambhir Blames This For Poor Defense Of Indian Batters In First 2 Test vs New Zealand

The Indian head coach, Gautam Gambhir, feels that the current modern generation’s T20 batting has been one of the reasons behind their struggle in the defense during the longest format of the game, as they have displayed in the two of the ongoing three-match series against New Zealand in Bengaluru and Pune.

The home side was demolished before the quality pace attack of the Blackcaps in the opening Test at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru in seam and swing-friendly conditions. In the second game, they were blown away against the spin department of the Tom Latham-led side, which was led by the left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner.

“Everyone has the responsibility. I cannot say just the batters have let us down.” Gautam Gambhir addressed the pre-match press conference before the final game, which starts on November 01 at the Wankhede Stadium. This has been the first home red-ball series defeat by the Indian team since 2012/13 against England.

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The coaching tenure of the former opening batter of the side has been riding in a merry-go-round, as they earned a whitewash over Sri Lanka in the T20I series but lost the 50-over format with a 2-1 margin. Despite their incredible show over Bangladesh with 5-0 in two Tests and three T20Is, they received heavy defeats against the Kiwis.

“I am not going to sugarcoat that it is hurting. It should hurt, and that will make us better. What is wrong with being in this position? I am sure this will push the youngsters to be better cricketers. If we have results like Kanpur, might as well have results like this and keep moving forward.” Gautam Gambhir expressed at the presser.

One of the highlighting aspects of the last two games was how poor the Indian batters were against the spin duo of the visiting side, Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Santner, who has now earned the third-best bowling figure by a visiting bowler in the format.

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The Delhi-born believes that it’s about how a team approaches the session and decides to either smash or drop anchor in building the innings.

“Test cricket should be played like Test cricket. If we have to get 400 runs inside a day’s play we should be able to get it. For me, it is about playing the sessions as well. If we play 4.5 sessions, we will have a lot of runs on board.” Gautam Gambhir remarked during the presser.

The reports claimed that perhaps the management of the home side has asked for another rank-turner at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. But the head coach isn’t ready to make any comment on the surface.

“It is just a good wicket. Very difficult for anyone to judge before both teams have bat on it.” The veteran addressed.

When he was asked to put some light on the current struggle of some of their experienced batters, Gautam Gambhir pointed a finger at the shortest format of the game, which is tended to play on flat surfaces.

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“Probably has a lot to do with playing on flat wickets in T20. We need to keep tightening our game. But you will see, probably, going forward in the future, we’ll have the same issues with a lot of other teams as well. Because the more the T20 cricket is played, the fewer people will start defending” He concluded.

It’s a vital game for India in the context of their qualification for the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25, and their head coach, Gautam Gambhir, will be aware of them requiring four out of the last six games for the progress.