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India capped off their 2-0 series sweep over West Indies inside the first hour of the fifth morning but head coach Gautam Gambhir pointed out that there was scope for improvement in the preparation of the Delhi pitch.

In the aftermath of an unexpected 3-0 shellacking at home in the hands of New Zealand where there was a lot of spin on offer, India produced relatively calmer surfaces in both Ahmedabad and Delhi. In Ahmedabad, West Indies suffered from two deplorable batting performances, folding in 44.1 and 45.1 overs. However, they went back to the drawing board and showed better application on the pitch in Delhi that appeared even flatter.

Gambhir was unimpressed by the lack of carry on it. “I thought that we could have had a better wicket here,” the Indian head coach said. “Yes, we did get the result on Day 5, but again, I think nicks need to carry.”

“I think there has to be something for the fast bowlers as well,” Gambhir offered. “I know we keep talking about spinners playing an important role, but when you’ve got probably two quality fast bowlers in your ranks, you still want them to be in the game as well. And it is okay that there’s not enough, but there has to be carry. So where we all saw, I thought the carry wasn’t there, which was a bit alarming,” he added.

“And I think going forward, we can get better wickets in Test cricket because all of us have the responsibility of keeping Test cricket alive. I think the first and foremost thing to keep Test cricket alive is playing on good surfaces.”

The pitch could be under the microscope again when India next play a Test at home – the first fixture against South Africa in Kolkata starting on November 14.

This article first appeared on Guerilla Cricket and was syndicated with permission.

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