Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir shared his opinion on the decline in batting form of Indian players in Test cricket. He feels a lot has to be credited to flat wickets in T20 format, which doesn’t prepare players enough to cope with challenges of red-ball format.
Gambhir’s comments came after New Zealand secured their maiden Test series victory in India by taking an unassaible lead of 2-0 going into the third test. The first fixture at Bengaluru saw New Zealand utilizing overcast conditions to bundle out India for 46. The total got registered into the lowest by India in a home test. As a result, the visitors won the game by eight wickets.
Then, the hosts dig their grave by rolling out a spin-assisting surface in Pune. Mitchell Santner took a total of 13 wickets to stun the Indian team and help the Black Caps register a dominating 113-run victory.
According to Gambhir, they will look to find a red-ball specialist in the near future, so they are able to bat for longer durations and have the ability to take 20 wickets. In particular, the 43-year-old feels Indian batters need to improve their defense and play spin better, which could help most of things get sorted.
Ahead of the third test between India and New Zealand, Gambhir said (via Cricbuzz):
“The foundation of your batting in Test cricket has to be defense. And then you start taking up from there.”
“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 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,” he added.
New Zealand hold an advantage going into Day 2 of 3rd Test
The third test between India and New Zealand in Mumbai kicked off on Friday. Batting first, New Zealand got off to a mediocre start, losing Devon Conway (4), Rachin Ravindra (5) and Tom Blundell (0) early.
Nevertheless, Will Young (71) and Tom Latham (28) stitched a quality 87-run stand. Then, Daryl Mitchell (82) continued the team’s momentum, as the Black Caps posted 235. Ravindra Jadeja scalped five wickets for the hosts, while Ravichandran Ashwin snared four.
In response, India got off to a good start with a 25-run opening stand, before Rohit Sharma (18) was dismissed by Matt Henry. Although, Yashasvi Jaiswal (30) was playing well, Ajaz Patel breached his defense to bring back New Zealand right into the game. Then, Mohammed Siraj (0) and Virat Kohli (4) fell in quick succession to put India under incessant pressure.
At stumps, India were at 49/1, with Rishabh Pant (1*) and Shubman Gill (31*) at the crease, and are still trailing by 149 runs.
