India were troubled by the tricky pitch at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, which provided some remarkable grip on the surface. Gautam Gambhir usually has his players adopt an ultra-aggressive game plan, and hence, they have the ability to play big innings; However, their strategy of all-out attack seems ineffective on such tracks.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir took over as head coach after former coach Rahul Dravid stepped down following India’s T20 World Cup win. Since then, the Indian team has been in aggressive mode and has revolutionized its playing strategy across all formats.
Gautam Gambhir is often called the master of the shortest format of the game, but many times his strategies have backfired. However, given their success, one fact has been almost overlooked: India’s new team has struggled to bat on any surface where there is even the slightest advantage for a bowler.
Gautam Gambhir and Team India unhappy with Wankhede pitch
India begin their ICC T20 World Cup title defense with their first game against the United States. The United States was a surprise package for them, along with the Wankhede pitch, which behaved differently than it usually does.
Reputed as one of the highest scoring turfs in India, the square at the Wankhede Stadium offered some grip and turn for the spinners. However, keeping the ball back on the surface was largely exploited by the USA’s fast bowlers, who struck early, dismissing almost the entire top and middle order within the powerplay.
It has been learned through TOI that the Indian team and head coach Gautam Gambhir have expressed their displeasure with BCCI over such tracks. Such tracks have often challenged India’s planning, which the head coach hates.
India’s next spots in T20 World Cup
India’s next matches in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup will be against smaller opponents like Namibia, Pakistan and Netherlands, which are scheduled to be played at venues like New Delhi, Colombo and Ahmedabad.
Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium is one of the most famous batting havens in India; However, it remains to be seen whether the same happens for India. The dew factor has not played a big role in the tournament so far.
The match will be played against Pakistan in Colombo and R. The spin-friendly track at the Premadasa Stadium will keep it limited to a low-scoring thriller between the two rivals. Their last game will be played at another high-scoring venue, the Narendra Modi International Stadium in Ahmedabad.
On India’s recent strengths, a former Indian wicketkeeper said, “The strength of the team lies in its aggressive attitude.”
It has been observed that India’s think tank gives slight preference to high-scoring games on fairly flat pitches. One thing that was observed during the New Zealand series, where the batsmen scored so many runs, was that despite their best quality batting, the Kiwis could not chase down the huge target.
However, the pitch they were presented with at the Wankhede Stadium was a bit surprising even by the standards of that ground. Former India cricketer Deep Dasgupta said, “The strength of the team lies in its aggressive approach. Yes, they should have alternative ways of scoring runs but they should not give up the aggressive game.”
Dasgupta also claimed that India has players who can play the classic precautionary role to score runs with a cautious approach. Those players showed their potential during the Asia Cup when the UAE presented some challenging grounds. However, the comfort zone for India remains their high-scoring games at Belters.
Also read: How Pakistan saved ICC from huge financial crisis by playing India in T20 World Cup 2026?