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India were deeply troubled by the tricky pitch at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, which offered some remarkable grip on the surface. Gautam Gambhir usually makes his players adopt an ultra-aggressive gampelan, and hence, they have the knack of going big in the innings; however, his strategy for an all-out attack seems ineffective on such tracks.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir took charge of the position after Former coach Rahul Dravid stepped down following India's T20 World Cup triumph. Ever since then, the Indian team has been in attack mode and has revolutionised their playing strategy across all formats.
While Gautam Gambhir is often called a maestro of the shortest format of the game, his strategies have also backfired at times. However, considering his success, a fact has almost been overlooked: that the new India side has struggled to bat on any surface that has the slightest of advantages for a bowler.
Gautam Gambhir and Team India left unsatisfied by the Wankhede pitch
India started their ICC T20 World Cup title defence with their first game against the USA. The United States of America were a surprise package for them alongside the Wankhede pitch, which did not behave the same way it usually does.
Reputed to be one of the highest-scoring turfs in India, the Wankhede Stadium's square offered some grip and turn for the spinners. However, the ball holding back onto the surface was largely used by USA pacers, who struck early, dismissing almost the entire top and middle order within the powerplay.
It has been learnt through TOI that the Indian team and the head coach, Gautam Gambhir has expressed their displeasure on such tracks to the BCCI. Such tracks have often challenged India's planning, which the head coach loathes.
India's next few scheduled venues in the T20 World Cup
India's next matches in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup will be against minor oppositions like Namibia, Pakistan and the Netherlands, which are scheduled to be played across venues like New Delhi, Colombo and Ahmedabad.
The Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi is one of the most well-known batting paradises in India; however, it is yet to be seen if the same happens for India. The dew factor is yet to play any major role in the tournament so far.
Colombo will mark the fixture against Pakistan, and the spin-favouring track of the R. Premadasa Stadium will anyway restrict it to a low-scoring thriller between the two rivals. Their last game will be played at another high-scoring venue at the Narendra Modi International Stadium in Ahmedabad.
"The team's strength lies in its aggressive approach," a former Indian wicket-keeper on India's recent strengths
It has been observed that India's think tank has a slight preference for high-scoring games on considerably flatter pitches. Something that was noted during the New Zealand series, where the batters scored so many runs, was that despite their best quality batting, the Kiwis could not chase the humongous totals.
However, the pitch that was offered to them at the Wankhede Stadium was a bit surprising by the standards of even that ground. "The team’s strength lies in its aggressive approach. Yes, they should also have alternate ways of scoring runs but they must not give up on the attacking game,” said former India cricketer Deep Dasgupta
Dasgupta also claimed that India have players who can take up the classic precautionary role to score runs with a rather cautious approach. Those players had shown their calibre during the Asia Cup when the UAE posed certain challenging turfs. However, the comfort zone for India remains their high-scoring games on belters.
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