India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir slammed the Barsapara Stadium track, saying that the wicket had nothing for the bowlers and was just a batter’s paradise. On Wednesday, India chased down a record 406 against the West Indies in this ground with skipper Shubman Gill hitting a double hundred and former captain Rohit Sharma smashing his 35th century. West Indies batters John Campbell, skipper Shai Hope and rising star Amir Jangoo also brought up tons on a lifeless surface.

“If I have to be absolutely honest, I feel there has to be a bit more contest between bat and ball. This is not cricket, this is only batting. Imagine a young bowler bowling on this wicket, and the opposition getting 400 and then we go on to chase 400,” Gambhir told Parthiv Patel during a conversation with JioStar after winning the second ODI on Wednesday.

“Obviously, for the records, for the crowd, it’s outstanding, but if you ask me as a genuine cricket fan and as a coach, because I have to have sympathy for the bowlers as well. When you bowl on this kind of a wicket, it’s not fair for the bowlers. So, we’ve got to give something to the bowlers so there’s at least something which they can work with,” he added.

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Without specifying the rule changes, Gambhir said unless there is some margin for the bowlers, there won’t be much option left for them.

“You need a bit of margin for the bowlers. Often, you can’t be hard on bowlers, because sometimes bowling figures are such that they haven’t bowled as poorly as their figures suggest. Because the margin is very small. Plus, with five fielders inside, two new balls, and the kind of power-hitting there is now, bowlers don’t really have many options,” he said.

“As a coach, as a support staff, the first thing you look at is: Were they able to execute their bowling or their plans properly? If they were able to do that, then you aren’t that hard on them. If you get too hard just looking at their analysis, then we will never be able to develop bowlers. Auqib Nabi was playing his first game. So somewhere, you need to give them a bit of support and keep a bit of an extra cushion for them. But unfortunately, there wasn’t much for any bowler in this game,” he added.