India head coach Gautam Gambhir has cited the increase in T20 cricket as a reason for batters' travails in red-ball cricket. He feels that it has brought down the quality of defence, in particular, in batters.
Speaking ahead of the third Test against New Zealand in Mumbai, Gambhir said, "To be a successful Test cricketer, you see people like Virat, you see all the great players who've done really well in Test cricket for a long period of time, they've always had good defence. The foundation of your batting in Test cricket has to be defence. And then you start taking up from there."
"Probably has a lot to do with playing on flat wickets in T20," he added on the topic of a decline in good defensive game in Test cricket. "We need to keep tightening our game. But you will see probably going forward in future, we'll have the same issues with a lot of other teams as well. Because the more the T20 cricket is played, the lesser people will start defending," felt Gambhir.
On that note, Gambhir also felt that identifying format-specific players could be a way forward. "See, at the moment it's difficult to answer this question," he said when asked about specialists in red-ball cricket. "But going forward, obviously, we will have to identify players who are solid red ball cricketers. Because ultimately, to get the results, you will have to work really hard for 3 or 4 days or 5 days to be honest. So sometimes, as I just mentioned, it's important if we can bat sessions, we know that we've got the bowling attack to take 20 wickets. At the moment, it's difficult to answer," he said.
Soon after Gambhir had spoken, Shubman Gill was out practicing his defence against the left-arm spin bowlers in the nets. As many as four of them operated in tandem, as Gill went about practicing his defence for the majority of the time. Gambhir believed that even for players at this level, and in different formats, it is possible to up their defensive game.
"To a certain extent, yes you can," said Gambhir. "To a certain extent, it has to come from the individual as well. That how much value does he end up giving it in defending the ball? That is something which is very important. And especially on a turning track. Because I've always believed that the best players and the most successful players in this format, or be it any format, always had solid defense. So that is something which we keep talking about. And it is not the overnight thing that we're going to talk about it today and people will start getting better tomorrow. But it's a continuous process. We need to keep working on it. We need to keep telling people the importance of defense. And all that stuff. So I feel that I think guys are really working hard on it. And you'll see the results in the future as well. And that is something which is very, very important, especially in red-ball cricket," said the India head coach.
India find themselves 0-2 down at home and suffered collapses on a dry surface in Pune which cost them the series. Gambhir reiterated his point about growing with the times when it comes to the defensive game.
"We need to keep defending better. I think that is something which is important. Especially on a turning track. Because if you've got confidence on your defence, a lot of things can be sorted. And that is something which we need to keep getting better, keep working on. Because, again, I'll keep going back to the same answer that a lot has to do with limited over-cricket and when you're muscling the ball, that you end up forgetting the soft hands and all that stuff, which probably used to happen 8 or 10 years back. That is why I said that a complete cricketer is a cricketer who plays T20 format really successfully and also Test cricket really successfully. He can adapt his game. And that is what growth is. Growth is not only going about hitting the ball in the stands. It's also about batting sessions on a turning track, where you know that you will not be able to hit in the stands, but you will be able to rotate better. For that, I think the foundation is very, very important."
It has been a rocky start to Gautam Gambhir's tenure as the head coach of the Indian men's cricket team. After a T20I series whitewash against Sri Lanka, India incurred a defeat in an ODI series in the Island nation in his second assignment. Although India recovered from the blow with a Test series whitewash against Bangladesh at home last month, the hosts succumbed to their first Test series loss on home soil in 12 years after losing the opening two matches in the ongoing contest against New Zealand.
India lost the rain-marred opener by eight wickets in Bengaluru. Although India captain Rohit Sharma shrugged it off as a one-off situation, reminding critics and fans on how the team had recovered against England earlier this year to beat them 4-1 after losing the series opener in Hyderabad, New Zealand once again stunned the home team. Mitchell Santner picked a record 13 wickets as India lost by 113 runs inside three days in Pune.
On Friday, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India will be out to deny New Zealand a clean sweep and themselves a 24-year low. India's only-ever whitewash (2-0) on home soil had come against South Africa in 2000.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, on the eve of the series finale, Gambhir did not wish to pin the blame on the batters alone, before admitting that the loss hurt. However, he reckoned that if India can produce a result like in Kanpur, where the team showcased their own version of Bazball to wrap up the match in three days against Bangladesh last month, they could also have results like in the New Zealand series.
“Everyone has the responsibility, I cannot say just the batters have let us down,” Gambhir told reporters. “I am not going to sugarcoat that it is hurting. It should hurt and that will make us better. What is wrong in 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,” Gambhir added.
The former India opener also admitted that he knew his journey as an India head coach would not have been a walk in the park. "I never expected easy run in international cricket. We lost in SL and now in NZ. but we need to keep preparing and represent our country in the best fashion," he said.
The consecutive losses hurt India's chances of making the World Test Championship final for the third time in a row. Although they still remain at the top of the table, their entire fate depends on the results in the Border-Gavaskar Test series next month, where India have to win at least three matches, in addition to the avoiding a whitewash against New Zealand.
"Every Test match has importance. We won't see a lot of draws in Tests. It comes due to WTC points system and T20 cricket as well," Gambhir said.
India will look to avoid a rare series whitewash at home when they meet New Zealand in the third and final Test in Mumbai from Friday and head coach Gautam Gambhir says his team must rise to the challenge.
New Zealand tormented the hosts with pace and beat them by eight wickets in Bengaluru for their first Test victory in India for 36 years. Then they wrapped up the series win in Pune with a 113-run victory set up by the spinners.
It was New Zealand's maiden series win in India going back to 1955 and the Black Caps snapped the hosts' proud home streak of 18 successive series triumphs since their 2-1 defeat by England 12 years ago.
The last time India were blanked in a home series was in 2000, when they lost 2-0 to South Africa, and Gambhir said his batsmen had to adapt before next month's tour of Australia, where they will play five Tests.
"We should be able to adapt. We should be a side that can get 400 on a day if we need to get a result and able to bat for two days as well. That's what growth is and that's what Test cricket is all about," Gambhir told reporters on Thursday.
"Test cricket can't be played in a single manner because it's about adaptability, looking at the situation and playing according to the situation and more importantly, it's about playing sessions.
"If we can start to learn to play sessions, with the quality we have in our batting lineup, I think if we play 4-1/2 sessions we'll have a lot of runs on the board."
Spinner Mitchell Santner's match haul of 13 wickets in Pune proved decisive.
"Sometimes you have to hand it to the opposition. I think Mitchell Santner was outstanding in the last game. We'll keep working hard and getting better. The guys are putting in the hard yards in the nets," Gambhir added.
"It's about working hard and getting better."
New Zealand skipper Tom Latham said the team were looking forward to the opportunity for a sweep.
"We've done a lot of good stuff over the last couple of weeks, but I guess for us, every Test match, you go in with the focus of trying to win key moments, not necessarily focusing on the result," Latham said.
"That's the byproduct of putting things together back to back, good sessions back to back. This is a different pitch, and these are different conditions."
India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Thursday pointed out reasons for recent trend of teams losing at home in Tests and said that it is because of the pressure of the World Test Championship (WTC) points. India will be looking to saving their pride as they take on Kiwis in the third Test at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. With the hosts being 0-2 down in the three-match series and having endured their first series loss in Tests at home in 12 years, they will be aiming to play out of their skins in order to avoid an embarassing whitewash.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Gambhir said that every match is important for him. He added that teams are losing at home Tests because of the pressure of T20 cricket.
"For me, WTC points are very important. Every Test match is important. There are no dead rubbers anymore. It has lot to do with T20 cricket. Gone are the days of draws because the quality of batters and hitting has went up. Matches will be more result-oriented now. It is the combination of being pressure due to WTC points and T20I cricket," Gambhir said.
In the second Test, NZ opted to bat first and half-centuries from Devon Conway (76) and Rachin Ravindra (65) helped the Kiwis reach 259 after Washington Sundar (7/59) delivered an incredible comeback spell to destroy the Kiwi middle order. In their first innings, India posted just 156 runs, with spinner Mitchell Santner taking 7/53 and Ravindra Jadeja top-scoring with 38 runs. In their second innings, with the help of skipper Tom Latham's 86, NZ posted 255/10, with Washington picking four wickets and Ravindra Jadeja getting three. In the run chase of 359 runs, India was skittled out for 245, despite a fight put on by Yashasvi Jaiswal (77). India lost by 114 runs and NZ won the series 2-0.
NZ had won the first Test by eight wickets.
India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Dhruv Jurel, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, KL Rahul.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir on Thursday refuted the claims that Indian batters' skill set against quality spin bowling has deteriorated over last few years but felt that the slam-bang nature of T20 cricket has affected players' defence. India were found wanting once again at Pune in the second Test as their 113-run loss on a spin-friendly pitch ended their 12-year unbeaten run on home soil. "I don't think so," Gambhir asserted when asked if Indian batters' spin negotiating skills have gone down. "Sometimes you have to give it to the opposition as well. Mitchell Santner was outstanding in the last game. But yes, we'll keep working hard, we'll keep getting better. Guys are putting in a lot of hard yards in the nets.
"Ultimately it's the results that matter when you're playing international cricket but I don't think that our skill against spin has actually gone down. It's about probably keep working hard and keep getting better," Gambhir said on the eve of the final Test.
Gambhir said the cricketers are now so used to playing fast-paced and hard-hitting cricket, that it might have impaired the art of defence.
"Sometimes you're so used to muscling the ball that you end up forgetting the soft hands which probably used to happen eight or 10 years back. A complete cricketer is a cricketer who plays T20 format and Test cricket successfully. He can adapt his game.
"Growth is not only about hitting the ball in the stands. It's also about batting sessions on a turning track where you know that you will not be able to hit in the stands but you'll be able to rotate better. For that, I think the foundation is very, very important.
"But you will see probably going forward in future, we'll have the same issues with a lot of other teams as well because the more the T20 cricket is played, the lesser people will start defending." Reiterating that dead rubbers are history in Test cricket with teams fighting hard for WTC points, Gambhir said a lot of result-orientation in the format is also due to ever increasing impact of T20 cricket on the batters.
"Every Test match has an importance but it also has a lot to do with T20 cricket as well. Gone are those days where, we'll see a lot of draws in Test cricket because the quality of batters and the hitting ability (has changed).
"There will be more result-oriented (matches). It's the combination of being under pressure every game because of the WTC points and the second thing is T20 cricket as well,” he said.
Gambhir said they are aiming to win before embarking on a challenging Australia tour.
"We should try and win this Test match so that we can go to Australia with a win under our belt. It's another great opportunity for people to do something special for the country. We very well know that we represent 140 crore Indians.
"It's another opportunity because very few people get this opportunity and honour to represent the country in Test cricket." With more than 20 net bowers helping the Indians train over two days here at the Wankhede Stadium, Gambhir said they were called in to ensure the batters get long stints in the nets.
"I didn't count how many bowlers were there. But the more the merrier. Probably to just make the guys bat longer and they were quality (bowlers) as well so if they can bat longer in the nets, it's better preparation.
"We know that when we go to places like Australia, we don't get those kind of quality bowlers. We always have the luxury when we're playing at home that we get a lot of bowlers so that guys can bat long and that's about it. There was nothing beyond that." Despite their batters cutting a sorry figure in the first two Tests, Gambhir backed India to adapt to situations accordingly.
"Test cricket needs to be played like Test cricket. We should be a side that can get 400 on a day if we need to get the result and we should be able to bat two days as well. That is what growth is and that is what Test cricket is all about.
"Test cricket can't just be played in one single manner because it's about adaptability. It's about looking at the situation and play according to the situation."
