India head coach Gautam Gambhir inspects the pitch ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026 match. (ANI photo) NEW DELHI: India head coach Gautam Gambhir flatly dismissed allegations that pitches in India are “tailor-made” for the home team as the team is too strong to even consider such tactics.After India’s successful campaign in the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup, Gambhir said that criticism about pitch conditions is often raised only to create controversy and attract attention.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!“I don’t agree with that. Why would you adjust anything? And frankly, India is too good a team to even think about something like that,” Gambhir said in an interview with ANI.He pointed out that India’s ability to post big totals is not limited to domestic conditions, highlighting similar high-scoring performances in the likes of Australia and South Africa.
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“In the T20 format, whether you look at Australia or South Africa, we have made 200 runs. If we make 200 runs in India, then the wickets will adjust. So I think some people want to create a controversy. The statements made for views and TRPs should not be acceptable,” he said.The former opener also emphasized that the International Cricket Council oversees pitch preparation during global tournaments and not the Board of Control for Cricket in India.READ ALSO: Team India report card: A perfect end to a not-so-perfect T20 World Cup campaign“Because sometimes it’s important to give a lot of credit to the players. It’s not like we get such big scores only in Indian conditions. In ICC tournaments, they control the wickets. It’s not the BCCI that controls them,” Gambhir said.Citing an example from the group stage clash against Pakistan in Colombo, Gambhir noted that India posted a big total on a spinning surface while other teams struggled to post competitive scores.“We even played a match in Colombo against Pakistan where we made around 180 and the rest of the teams made 140. We beat Pakistan by a big margin and nobody questioned the pitch there,” he said.Gambhir added that modern T20 cricket naturally produces big scores as the format is heavily tilted in favor of batsmen.“No one wants to come and watch a 120-run T20 match. Everyone wants to watch high-scoring matches. It’s a global phenomenon — also in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and England,” he explained.
