‘Most experienced bowling attack’: Gautam Gambhir names India’s biggest challenge ahead of ODIs in New Zealand

India head coach Gautam Gambhir with Arshdeep Singh. (PTI Photo) NEW DELHI: India head coach Gautam Gambhir has identified an inexperienced bowling attack as the biggest challenge the visitors will face in the upcoming five-match ODI series against New Zealand starting on November 4. With Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya unavailable, India will have to rely on a relatively inexperienced group of pacers led by Are Mohammed Siraj.Gambhir believes that if India manage to get results in the ODI series, the bowlers should get much of the credit rather than the more experienced batting unit. The challenge is particularly significant as India have to balance preparations for the white-ball matches and the two-Test series scheduled to end the tour.“It’s important for me to win every series. It’s not just about winning New Zealand. It’s challenging to win every series. Because if you look at it, it’s probably going to be the most inexperienced bowling attack in ODI cricket,” Gambhir said on Sunday.The numbers underscore his concerns. With 51 ODIs, Siraj is the most experienced pacer in the group. Arshdeep has played 18 while Auqib Nabi and Anshul Kamboj have one ODI each. Gurnoor Brar appeared at nine.“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).“Still, if we do a one-day series, the credit will go to this bowling attack. It will go to those guys. We have batting experience. We have a lot of batting experience. It will come down to those guys.”“But when you come overseas, your bowlers win series, especially in one-day and Test cricket. So if we go in and do well in one-day cricket, we should give a lot of credit to those bowlers rather than talk too much about the batting,” he added.

Gambhir’s challenge to Abhishek Sharma

Gambhir also spoke about the improvement Abhishek Sharma showed against New Zealand off-spinner Michael Bracewell during the five-match T20I series. The Indian opener had struggled with off-spin earlier in the series but worked on that aspect of batting during extended sessions at the nets with the head coach, himself a former successful spin bowler.“Obviously, Abhishek has struggled a bit with off-spin. The more he gets better at that, obviously he’ll become a better player overall. And you want to keep improving because the opposition are always studying you.”“The way you hit, the way you hit, the speed you hit. So if you improve your game, different areas, if you improve against different pitchers, you’re going to be a step ahead of the opposition.”“So that’s what I was talking about. Because in the first match when he bowled off-spin, he obviously got a bit tied up. It was just very tactical and technical stuff that we talked about,” Gambhir said.

Gambhir hails India’s ‘unbelievable’ T20I series win

The coach also reflected on India’s 3-2 win in the T20I series and praised the team’s ability to overcome limited preparation time and unfamiliar conditions. India had just one practice session after arriving in New Zealand ahead of the opening match on October 22 in Christchurch, but won the first three matches to seal the series. The guests have scored the last two matches.“Look, first of all, of course it’s an incredible effort because the guys have only got one day to prepare,” Gambhir said after the fifth and final T20I.“They arrived on the 20th of October, we trained on the 21st… different conditions, different weather conditions, different dimensions, playing against a quality team like New Zealand in their own backyard with the amount of experience they had in T20 cricket, plus most of the guys were touring New Zealand for the first time.“Guys can be extremely proud of their efforts, especially when you don’t have time to prepare.Gambhir said the T20I side faced a particularly difficult challenge, with 70-80 per cent of the players visiting New Zealand for the first time. He also pointed out that the ODI and Test players will have more time to prepare for their assignments.“If this tour is difficult for anyone, it’s the T20 side because our Test team will get time to prepare. Our one-day players will get time to prepare. But these players didn’t have time. And 70-80% of these players were coming to New Zealand for the first time.”“And the weather conditions we’re playing in and the conditions we’re playing in are two extreme conditions. So I believe after training, after a 15-hour flight, if the boys can perform like that, especially against a quality side, there’s got to be a lot of credit to this side.”“I know a lot of people won’t talk about it. But this is an achievement we should always talk about because these guys were always under pressure and that’s called ruthlessness. We wanted to win the other two but sometimes things don’t go your way,” he said.