Who Is To Be Blamed For India's Loss vs West Indies Despite Scoring 249? Gautam Gambhir's Answer Shows His Philosophy

To face questions after a team fails to defend 249 in a T20I is normal. On Friday night in Ranchi, when the world witnessed a T20I match in which the teams aggregated 500 runs for only the second time in history, it was India coach Gautam Gambhir who put on a brave face and faced the media. In a game in which batters from both sides scored 502 runs in 38.3 overs, Gambhir had special praise for a bowler. "If you look at the context of the game, it (Roston Chase's spell) was a game-changing, match-winning spell. The way he changed his lines was important on this wicket. But against dangerous teams like West Indies, we need to find a way to defend totals," Gambhir said at the post-match press conference.

"You have to keep changing your lines and make the batters guess. If you keep bowling the same line and length, they can settle in. He bowled at the batters' legs, went wide and bowled full. He kept changing his approach, and those variations are very important on wickets like these."

Chase returned figures of 3/24, dismissing Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Shivam Dube in the middle overs to slow India down after a flying start. India posted 249/5, powered by Samson's 82 and rapid knocks from Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Varma, but the West Indies chased down the target in 18.3 overs.

"I don't blame anyone or anything. The bottom line is that we could not defend 250. They batted extremely well and deserved to win. We still have a lot of work to do."

Mayank Yadav dropped a sitter as Sherfane Rutherford went on to score 84 in a match-winning 120-run partnership with Shai Hope (102 not out).

"The toss is not in your hands. Catches get dropped; it has happened in the past and will happen in the future. Nobody drops catches intentionally, so you cannot blame anyone for that," Gambhir said.

"I don't know if there is a safe total. We thought 250 was a good score, especially after taking two early wickets. But credit to the West Indies for what they achieved with the bat," he added.

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