Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: India head coach Gautam Gambhir has firmly dismissed allegations that pitches in India are “tailored” to favour the home side, saying the team is far too strong to even consider such tactics.Speaking after India’s successful campaign in the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Gambhir said criticism about pitch conditions often surfaces only to stir controversy and attract attention.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“I don’t agree to that. Why would you tailor something? And honestly, India is too good a team to be even thinking about something like that,” Gambhir said in an interview with ANI.He pointed out that India’s ability to post big totals is not limited to home conditions, highlighting similar high-scoring performances in countries like Australia and South Africa.
“In the T20 format, whether you look in Australia or South Africa, we made 200 runs. If we make 200 runs in India, then the wickets get tailored. So I think some people want to create a controversy. Statements given for views and TRPs should not be acceptable,” he said.The former opener also stressed that pitch preparation during global tournaments is overseen by the International Cricket Council and not the Board of Control for Cricket in India.ALSO READ: Team India Report Card: Perfect finish to a not-so-perfect T20 World Cup campaign“Because sometimes it is important to give players a lot of credit as well. It’s not like we made such big scores only in Indian conditions. In ICC tournaments, they control the wickets. It’s not the BCCI that controls them,” Gambhir said.Citing an example from the group stage clash against Pakistan in Colombo, Gambhir noted that India posted a big total on a turning surface while other teams struggled to reach competitive scores.“We even played a match in Colombo against Pakistan where we made around 180 and the rest of the teams were making 140. We defeated Pakistan by a huge margin and no one questioned the pitch there,” he said.Gambhir added that modern T20 cricket naturally produces big scores because the format is heavily tilted in favour of batters.“No one wants to come and watch a 120-run T20 game. Everyone wants to watch high-scoring matches. This is a worldwide phenomenon — in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and England as well,” he explained.
