Hamilton, Nov 1 India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Sunday said the team’s inexperienced bowling attack should get all the credit if the visitors do well in the five-match ODI series against New Zealand starting on November 4.
With Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya not available, India will have to rely on the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Auqib Nabi, Anshul Kamboj and Gurnoor Brar. Siraj is by far the most experienced among the pacers, with 51 ODIs.
With the Test series lined up towards the end of a hectic New Zealand tour, India have been forced to prepare simultaneously for different formats, impacting player availability.
“It’s important for me to win every series. It’s not just about winning in New Zealand. It’s challenging to win every series. Because if you look at it, this will probably be the most inexperienced bowling attack in ODI cricket,” said Gambhir when asked how the scheduling has impacted the team’s preparations.
“No one will talk about it. But if you look at it, Aqib Nabi (1 ODI). Anshul Khamboj, one match. Gurnoor, how many? 10 matches (nine). Only Arshdeep is our most experienced bowler (18).
“Despite that, if we do well in the one-day series, the credit will go to this bowling attack. It will go to these boys. We have experience in batting. We have a lot of experience in batting.
“But when you come overseas, your bowlers win the series, especially in one-day and Test cricket. So if we go ahead and do well in one-day cricket, a lot of credit should be given to these bowlers rather than talking too much about the batters,” said the coach.
Gambhir’s mantra for Abhishek
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Abhishek was able to improve his game against New Zealand off-spinner Michael Bracewell over the course of the five match T20 series. It was partly because an extended period of time spent with Gambhir in the nets. The former India opener was known for his brilliant skills against the spinners.
“Obviously, Abhishek has struggled a bit with off-spin. The more he gets better at it, obviously, he will become an overall better player. And you want to keep improving yourself because the opposition keeps studying you.
“The way you bat, the way you make runs, the speed with which you bat. So if you improve your game, the different areas, if you improve against different bowlers, you will be one step ahead of the opposition.
“So that’s what I was talking about. Because in the first match, when he was bowling off-spin, obviously, he got a little tied up. It was just a very tactical and technical stuff that we spoke about,” added Gambhir.
(PTI News)
