India head coach Gautam Gambhir stressed the need for the team’s batters to find ways to tackle challenging batting conditions following their 244-run defeat to New Zealand in the fourth ODI of the five-match series.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Gambhir refrained from delving into the technical aspects of batting but emphasised that the players must learn to adapt and find solutions when faced with difficult conditions.
“I don’t go into technicality. There wasn’t a lot of deviation, its job of batter to negate movement. More than seam, areas and length created problems for us. We got stuck into the crease,” Gambhir said at the post-match press conference.
“Even last game we were 7 down for 111 it is a bit of concern. We need to be mentally, skill wise ready. 35-40/0 is fine in conditions like these. We have experience and can hopefully adapt in the last game,” he added.
Gambhir further stressed that no delivery in cricket is truly unplayable, acknowledging that New Zealand’s premier pacer Matt Henry bowled in the right areas. However, he maintained that India’s batters should have found ways to counter his disciplined bowling.
“There are no unplayable deliveries in international cricket. Matt Henry bowled in good areas but we should be able to negate that. You are always concerned when you get bundled out for 90 odd. These are conditions close to World Cup. Even previous game we lost seven wickets, its a concern,” he added.
Gambhir also pointed to India’s lapses in the field, particularly the two chances they failed to capitalise on against New Zealand centurion Will Young. The right-hander was dropped twice early in his innings and made India pay for those missed opportunities by going on to score a crucial 125.
“Auqib 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,” Gambhir concluded.
