‘There has to be something for the fast bowlers as well’
‘There has to be carry. So what we all saw, I thought the carry wasn’t there, which was a bit alarming’
India head coach Gautam Gambhir didn’t mince his words after the team’s 2-0 Test series sweep against the West Indies, voicing strong criticism of the Arun Jaitley Stadium pitch that offered little for pacers.
Despite India’s seven-wicket win in Delhi, Gambhir called the surface ‘alarming’ and stressed the need for more balanced wickets to keep Test cricket alive.
The team management, too, is reportedly unhappy with the lifeless Feroz Shah Kotla track, which neither supported medium pacers nor finger spinners.
Even though India won comfortably, Gambhir and his support staff want to ensure that upcoming home Tests — including the November series against South Africa in Kolkata and Guwahati — feature pitches with more assistance for fast bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.
“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 nicks need to carry. I think there has to be something for the fast bowlers as well,” Gambhir said after the match.
“I know we keep talking about spinners playing an important role, but when you’ve got probably two quality fast bowlers in your ranks, you still want them to be in the game as well,” he added, underlining the importance of maintaining a contest between bat and ball.
Traditionally, Kotla tracks offer slow turn, but even Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar struggled to get any bite off the surface, with batters comfortably playing them off the back foot.
Gambhir warned that such surfaces are not ideal if India wants to sustain interest in Test cricket at home.
“There has to be carry. So what we all saw, I thought the carry wasn’t there, which was a bit alarming,” he said. “And I think going forward, we can get better wickets in Test cricket because all of us have the responsibility of keeping Test cricket alive.”
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