Head coach Gautam Gambhir said that India’s T20 team is in transition after a “reset,” attributing the team’s terrible performance in the current tour of the United Kingdom to a severe lack of game knowledge and an incorrect reading of the environment.
In the third Twenty20 International in Nottingham on Tuesday, India lost to England by a staggering 125 runs, their worst-ever T20I defeat in terms of runs. In the five-match series, the visitors are currently behind 0–2. This follows last month’s first-ever bilateral series loss to Ireland.
“We just haven’t played well. There are a lot of changes from the XI that played the T20 World Cup final to now. Be it the captain, be it the opening batsman. There is no Hardik Pandya, there is no Jasprit Bumrah,” Gambhir was quoted as saying by PTI.
“When you go for that reset, it takes a bit of time. If you see, a 15-year-old (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi) is opening, Prince Yadav is in his second T20I, Harshit Rana is coming back from an injury. We ultimately look only at results, and no doubt results are important in international cricket, but we have to be practical as well,” he added.
Shreyas Iyer is currently in charge of the team, and World Cup-winning captain Suryakumar Yadav is no longer included in the T20 lineup due to a protracted period of poor batting form. Despite several failures, Gambhir maintained that India does not turn into a poor squad in just four games.
“Sometimes the opposition plays better than you. Sometimes you don’t assess the conditions well enough and you don’t read them well enough. Reading the game is equally important. We haven’t done that since Ireland,” he said.
“We haven’t adapted well. Whether it was in Ireland or here in England, that has been the reality. Had we adapted better and played better cricket, we wouldn’t have lost four matches in a row.” Gambhir said the new entrants deserve some time before they settle into their roles and asserted that there was nothing extraordinary about a few losses during a period of transition.
“When you go to reset a side, sometimes you get such performances. Sometimes you give players time to develop. England is a high-quality side. If you put players in against such teams, you have to give them time to develop. Because after a reset, things take time,” he said.
India struggled against England’s pace attack, spearheaded by Josh Tongue and Jofra Archer, and were swept out for just 76 in the third Twenty20 International. Gambhir admitted that a more effective strategy against them was required.
“I don’t know what England are going to do in the remaining games, but we certainly have to get better against pace. Today was probably one of those off days because in the previous two T20Is we scored around 190. When you play a high-risk brand of cricket, days like this can happen,” he said.
Additionally, Gambhir emphasized that understanding match situation is just as crucial as skill.
“It is important to assess the conditions, but it is equally important to read the game. Sometimes the breeze can play a huge role. Sometimes one side of the ground has much bigger dimensions than the other. These are small things, but in T20 cricket they can make a massive difference,” he said.
However, fast bowler Prince Yadav, who made an impression with figures of 2/30 in just his second Twenty20 International, received accolades from the India coach.
“It is easy to look only at the figures, but look at the overs he bowled. He bowled in the Powerplay, at the death and in difficult phases of the innings. To produce a performance like that in just his second T20I shows he has a bright future. I hope he keeps working hard and keeps getting better,” Gambhir said.
