Coach Gambhir rejects Shreyas' claim, slams Indian batters after NZ horror show

Brief scores: New Zealand (333 in 50 overs) beat India (89 all out in 26.4 overs) by 244 runs in 4th ODI.

Coach Gautam Gambhir was in no mood to make excuses for India's batting collapse in the fourth ODI against New Zealand. After the visitors were bowled out for 89 in a 244-run defeat in Mount Maunganui on Friday, the India head coach made his displeasure clear, dismissing Shreyas Iyer's suggestion that the pitch had changed and the batters had fallen to unplayable deliveries.

With the 2027 ODI World Cup less than a year away, Gambhir said India needed to learn to deal with such conditions rather than blame the surface.

India's batting fell apart in the opening over itself, with Matt Henry removing Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and stand-in captain Iyer for ducks. The visitors were three wickets down without scoring a run and never recovered, eventually folding in just 26.4 overs.

New Zealand had posted 333 in their 50 overs, with Will Young scoring a century. Henry then produced a brilliant spell with the new ball, finishing with six wickets for 27 runs to hand the hosts one of their biggest wins in ODI cricket.

After the match, Iyer pointed to the difference in the pitch between the two innings. He felt the surface had offered more assistance to the fast bowlers during India's chase and credited Henry for making the most of the conditions.

"There was a huge difference between the wickets between innings," Iyer said during the post-match presentation.

He also felt that the Indian batters had not thrown their wickets away, with New Zealand's bowlers getting the ball to move sharply.

However, Gambhir did not share that assessment. He felt India's batters should have shown greater patience and found a way to negotiate the opening overs.

"There are no unplayable deliveries in international cricket. We needed to see off the first 10 overs. Matt Henry bowled in good areas, but we should be able to negate that," Gambhir said at the post-match press conference.

The India head coach also stressed that the conditions in New Zealand could help prepare the team for next year's World Cup in South Africa. He was concerned that India had failed to cope with the challenge despite having experienced players in the batting line-up.

"You're always concerned when you get bundled out for 90-odd. Why won't I be concerned? These are conditions which are going to be closest to what we might get during the World Cup," he said.

For Gambhir, the speed of the collapse was a bigger worry than the final score.

"The bigger concern is not the runs. It's how quickly we got bundled out, around 26 or 27 overs. That is something which is always a concern," he added.GAMBHIR POINTS TO REPEATED BATTING COLLAPSES

Gambhir also referred to India's batting struggles in the previous ODI, where they had slipped to 111 for seven while chasing a revised target of 135 in a rain-affected match. India eventually won the contest under the DLS method, but the collapse was another sign that the team was struggling against New Zealand's bowling attack.

The head coach said the batters needed to be prepared both mentally and technically to deal with challenging conditions.

"Even in the last game, we were seven down for 111. It is a bit of a concern. We need to be mentally and skill-wise ready. 35-40/0 is fine in conditions like these. We have experience and can hopefully adapt in the last game," he said.

Gambhir also felt India's batters were not making decisive movements against deliveries that moved away from them. He believed they were getting stuck in the crease instead of committing to playing forward or off the back foot.

"I don't go into technicalities. There wasn't a lot of deviation; it's the job of the batter to negate movement. More than seam, areas and length created problems for us. We got stuck in the crease," he said.advertisementROHIT, KOHLI STRUGGLE IN NEW ZEALANDThe defeat also raised concerns about the form of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who are expected to play important roles in India's 2027 ODI World Cup campaign.

Rohit has had a difficult series, scoring 0, 23 and 0 in his three outings. His latest dismissal came in the opening over, when Henry removed him for a golden duck.

Kohli started the series with an impressive 74 off 51 balls in the first ODI but has managed just seven runs and a duck in his next two innings. Henry dismissed him for four in the fourth ODI.

India's batting struggles have not been limited to the two senior players. Kohli's 74 in the opening match remains the only half-century by an Indian batter across the three completed innings in the series.

Gambhir, however, had fewer complaints about India's bowling attack. He felt the fielding let the team down, with dropped catches proving costly as New Zealand built a strong total.

"Aqib Nabi was unlucky; had we got Will Young, it could have been different. There's always hindsight. We dropped catches and will have to pay for it. All of us should be proud of our bowling unit," he said.

New Zealand's 244-run victory kept them in contention to level the five-match series. India will now look to put the defeat behind them and produce a better batting performance in the final ODI.- Ends