‘Their careers are at stake’: Gambhir pleads for even pitches after Ranchi 250 chase

For the second time in less than a fortnight between India and the West Indies, a seemingly unchaseable total was gunned down with relative ease, with bowlers facing wrath on a batting-friendly track. On Sep 30, India chased 405 with eight wickets remaining in the Guwahati ODI, completing their highest successful run chase in 50-over cricket (and the second-highest overall). 10 days later, West Indies chased 250 against India during the Ranchi T20I, completing their highest successful T20I chase against and in India. Looking at such results, India head coach Gautam Gambhir raised alarm bells, calling for more even wickets to ensure a fair contest.

Shai Hope starred for the visitors in the second T20I by scoring an unbeaten 102 as the West Indies won by six wickets to level the five-match series 1-1. While Mayank Yadav returned with 3/36, the remaining five bowlers, including Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, conceded at over 11 runs per over. Kuldeep and Axar were the worst hit, conceding 53 and 63 runs, respectively.

Also read| Shreyas Iyer blames dew for West Indies' record run chase in 2nd T20I in Ranchi

Speaking in favour of his bowlers, Gambhir said, "You don't want a good bat-and-ball competition? What you want to see, that's also what we want to see. We also want to see an even contest.

"These bowlers are our bowlers, not someone else's bowlers. Their careers are at stake; they have worked hard to sit in this dressing room. If it's an even competition, we'll see a better game of cricket,” he said in a chat with the broadcasters after the match.

Unlike captain Shreyas Iyer, who blamed dew for the second T20I loss, Gambhir urged his players to keep improving and find ways to deliver like world champions. He also credited Hope and the West Indies team with never allowing the Indian attack to settle or bring India back into the game.

"You don't shrug off any defeat," Gambhir said. "If you want to keep improving, you don't want to put anything under the carpet.

"We are a world-champion team, so we want to keep improving. These are obviously tough conditions to bowl - we know flat wickets with the dew - obviously it's tough, but we need to figure out and find the way. Especially with the opposition having lost two wickets in the first over and then lost three wickets in the powerplay.

"But again, credit to West Indies; the way Shai Hope and Sherfane batted, we know they are world-class batters, especially in the format. It was tough on us, but we're going to keep improving,” he added.