Tag: Gautam Gambhir

Former India batsman Yuvraj Singh is one of those, who had expressed his disappointment over the pitch of Motera Test between India and England, where the match finished inside two days. He had tweeted, “Finished in 2 days Not sure if that’s good for test cricket! If @anilkumble1074 and @harbhajan_singh bowled on these kinds of wickets they would be sitting on a thousand and 800.”

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But Gautam Gambhir is of the opinion that, even if pitch wasn’t assisting them, the two legendary Indian spinners would have ended up with that many wickets, had some factors been in their control.

“Yes, wickets are different today but DRS today plays a huge role. Had there been DRS when Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh was bowling, Kumble would have gone to 1000 wickets and Harbhajan would have got around 700 wickets because DRS plays a massive role especially in India where there are lot of inside edges, or bat pads and stuff,” Gambhir said on the ‘Runorder’ show on ESPNCricinfo when asked if he agrees with Yuvraj’s tweet.

But Gambhir was also quick to point that it wasn’t the Indian spinners’ fault that the pitch was assisting them. It is noteworthy that out of the 30 wickets that fell in the match, 28 went to spinners, one to Ishant Sharma and another to Jofra Archer.

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Gambhir also said, that when the pitch assists the spinners, someone like Ashwin is under more pressure to deliver.

“From that point of view, I do agree with Yuvraj Singh, but from the point of view that had they played on these kinds of pitches, probably not. Because see, wickets have been the same for everyone. Ashwin doesn’t ask for these kinds of wickets, it’s the team management that asks for it. And when you prepare such wickets, Ashwin is under more pressure to deliver,” Gambhir added.