"Has to be something for..."- Gautam Gambhir reacts to Delhi surface despite 7-wicket victory in IND vs WI 2nd Test
The head coach of the Indian side, Gautam Gambhir, has reacted to the benign surface at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi despite the home side's victory by seven wickets during the second Test against the West Indies.
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The Indian head coach, Gautam Gambhir, wasn’t satisfied with the pitch condition of the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi for the second Test match against the West Indies. The Blue Brigade earned victory in the opening clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, while many expected the second game to get over inside three days.
India enforced the follow-on with the first innings’ lead of 270 runs. In the first innings, they bowled 81.5 overs while in the second innings, they went through 118.5 overs of toil in the scorching heat. Gambhir lambasted the surface due to its lack of bounce, with no assistance for the pacers.
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“I thought that we could have had a better wicket here. Yes, we did get the result on day five, but again, I think the Knicks 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.” Gambhir in the post-match press conference.
Gautam Gambhir slams Delhi surface after India’s seven-wicket win against West Indies
In the first innings, Kuldeep Yadav picked 5/82 in 26.5 overs while the left-arm spinner, Ravindra Jadeja, captured three wickets in 19 overs. In the second innings, Jasprit Bumrah returned with a 3/44 spell while the spinners collected five wickets between them.
“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, (I hope) 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.” Gambhir addressed.
Shubman Gill, who celebrated his 10th Test century in the first innings along with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s fabulous knock of 175, called it a dead surface during the post-match presentation.
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Subhradeep Choudhury
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