India’s coach Gambhir blames flat wickets, T20s for poor Test batting

‘The more T20 cricket is played, the less people will start defending,’ Gambhir says after his team’s poor batting in the home series loss against New Zealand.

Batsmen have forgotten how to defend in Test cricket because of the T20 game, says India coach Gautam Gambhir as his team look to avoid a 3-0 home series whitewash against New Zealand in Mumbai.

The Black Caps sealed their first-ever Test series victory on Indian soil last week in Pune and are now chasing a clean sweep in the final match starting Friday at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.

India’s famed batting, led by skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, has flopped in the series including the hosts’ 46 all out in the first innings of the opening Test.

Gambhir attributed the poor showing to an attacking 20-over mindset, at the expense of the conservative posture needed for long spells at the crease.

“Foundation of your batting in Test cricket has to be defence,” Gambhir said on Thursday.

“Probably a lot to do with playing on flat wickets in T20 cricket,” he added.

“We will have the same issues with a lot of other teams as well because the more T20 cricket is played, the less people will start defending.”

The last time India were blanked in a home series was in 2000, when they lost 2-0 to South Africa, and Gambhir said his batters had to adapt before next month’s tour of Australia, where they will play five Tests.

“We should be able to adapt. We should be a side that can get 400 on a day if we need to get a result and able to bat for two days as well. That’s what growth is and that’s what Test cricket is all about,” Gambhir told reporters on Thursday.

“Test cricket can’t be played in a single manner because it’s about adaptability, looking at the situation and playing according to the situation and more importantly, it’s about playing sessions.

“If we can start to learn to play sessions, with the quality we have in our batting lineup, I think if we play four and a half sessions we’ll have a lot of runs on the board.”

New Zealand beat India at their own game of spin for a 113-run victory in the second Test with Mitchell Santner returning a match haul of 13 wickets.

Gambhir rejected accusations by pundits that India had lost the ability to counter spin attacks from other teams.

“I don’t think so, sometimes you got to give it to the opposition as well,” Gambhir, a former opening batter, said.

“Mitchell Santner was outstanding in the last game but we will keep working hard, we will keep getting better. I don’t think so our skill against spin has actually gone down.”

India lost the second match inside three days to suffer their first home series loss in 12 years and end a streak of 18 series wins at home in the period.

The final Test will be India’s last before they head for their all-important tour of Australia starting with the first of five Tests on November 22 in Perth.

Gambhir said his men were determined not to gift New Zealand a clean sweep.

“Every time you lose a game, be it at home or be it away from home, it should hurt. That hurt will make us better,” he said.

“For me, it’s good that World Test Championship points are important and there are no dead rubbers any more in Test cricket,” he added.

“We should try and win this Test match so that we go to Australia with a win under our belt.”

New Zealand captain Tom Latham agreed that the World Test Championship had breathed new life into the five-day format.

The Black Caps have revived their chances of making the WTC final at Lord’s next year following with the unbeatable 2-0 lead.

“From our point of view there is a bigger carrot at the end in terms of the World Test Championship, so for us every game is really important,” Latham said.

India’s lead at the top of the WTC standings has been cut after their two losses, with Australia a close second followed by Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

India have made the two finals of both previous WTC seasons, losing to New Zealand in the inaugural edition and then to Australia last year.