IND vs WI: India head coach Gautam Gambhir has praised West Indies all-rounder Roston Chase for his crucial bowling performance in the second T20I, saying his spell played a major role in stopping India from posting an even bigger total.
West Indies chased down a target of 251 to register a six-wicket win, bringing the five-match series level at 1-1.
Chase made an impact by changing his bowling lines and keeping India’s batters from scoring freely. Gambhir felt the variation was important on the surface and admitted that India needed to find better ways to defend big totals against a powerful West Indies batting line-up.
Gautam Gambhir praises Roston Chase’s bowling
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Gambhir highlighted how Chase adjusted his approach to trouble the Indian batters.
“If you look at the context of the game, it was a game-changing, match-winning spell. The way he changed his lines was important on this wicket. But against dangerous teams like West Indies, we need to find a way to defend totals,” Gambhir said while speaking at the post-match press conference.
The India head coach explained that bowlers must keep batters guessing instead of repeatedly delivering the ball in the same area. Chase mixed his lines by targeting the batters’ legs, bowling wider and using fuller deliveries to limit India’s scoring opportunities.
“You have to keep changing your lines and make the batters guess. If you keep bowling the same line and length, they can settle in. He bowled at the batters’ legs, went wide and bowled full,” Gambhir added.
Gautam Gambhir defends Mayank Yadav after dropped catch
India also had a costly moment in the field when Mayank Yadav dropped a catch offered by Sherfane Rutherford. The West Indies batter made full use of the reprieve, scoring 84 runs and building a match-winning 120-run partnership with skipper Shai Hope.
Gambhir, however, refused to single out the young pacer for the mistake. He said dropped catches are part of cricket and insisted that no player misses a chance deliberately.
“The toss isn’t in your hands. Catches get dropped; it has happened in the past and will happen in the future. Nobody drops catches intentionally, so you can’t blame anyone for that,” Gambhir said.
Gambhir says no total is completely safe
India had posted a huge total, but Hope’s unbeaten century and Rutherford’s explosive innings helped the visitors complete a memorable chase in the penultimate over. Hope remained unbeaten on 102, while Rutherford smashed 84 off just 37 balls, hitting seven fours and seven sixes. Romario Shepherd also contributed 34 off 13 deliveries.
Asked whether India’s total was enough, Gambhir said there was no guarantee that any score would be safe against a strong batting side.
“I don’t know if there is a safe total. We thought 250 was a good score, especially after taking two early wickets. But credit to the West Indies for what they achieved with the bat,” Gambhir added.
The result gave West Indies their highest successful T20I chase against India and the second-highest successful chase in the format overall. With the series now tied 1-1, India will look to address their bowling and fielding concerns in the upcoming matches.