Gambhir: 'Bowlers' careers are at stake'

His comments came after West Indies chased down 250 with nine balls to spare in the second T20I in Ranchi, where a flat pitch and dewy conditions in a small ground resulted in match aggregates of 501 runs and 33 sixes in 38.3 overs. Gambhir had expressed the same sentiment in Guwahati when India chased down 406 in the second ODI with 39 balls to spare.

"These bowlers are our bowlers, not someone else's bowlers. Their careers are at stake, they have worked hard to sit in this dressing room. If it's an even competition, we'll see a better game of cricket."

India had reduced West Indies to 5 for 2 in the first over and 58 for 3 inside the sixth over. But Shai Hope's unbeaten 102 off 45 balls, supported by Sherfane Rutherford's 84 off 37, helped the visitors complete their highest successful T20I chase and drew level in the five-match series.

"You don't shrug off any defeat," Gambhir said. "If you want to keep improving, you don't want to put anything under the carpet.

"We are a world-champion team so we want to keep improving. These are obviously tough conditions to bowl - we know flat wickets with the dew - obviously it's tough but we need to figure out and find the way. Especially with the opposition having lost two wickets in the first over and then lost three wickets in the powerplay.

"But again, credit to West Indies, the way Shai Hope and Sherfane batted, we know they are world-class batters especially in the format. It was tough on us but we're going to keep improving."

Mayank Yadav's opening spell was a bright spot for India with the ball. He took 3 for 36 in three overs, bowling regularly around 145kph and reaching 149.5kph with the delivery that sent Rovman Powell's off stump cartwheeling. His pace had earlier rushed Kamil Pooran into a miscued swipe and hurried Shimron Hetmyer into an inside-edge onto his stumps off successive balls in the first over.

Gambhir praised Mayank for using his speed rather than moving away from his principal strength, which he had done in the first T20I in Lucknow with the occasional change of pace.

"He is a fast bowler, he should bowl like a fast bowler," Gambhir said of Mayank's spell. "He isn't a slower bowler. If you can bowl 150kph, bowl at 150kph, if you bowl at 120kph, bowl at 120kph. When you are playing as a fast bowler, it is your responsibility to bowl fast. And he did that today, getting success."

India, though, failed to build on those early inroads as Hope and Rutherford added 120 for the fourth wicket, before Romario Shepherd's unbeaten 34 off 13 sealed a comfortable win for the visitors.

"I've played enough cricket to know that games are not decided in the first over. They are a strong T20 side and we respect them," Gambhir said. "We know how dangerous they are. A game of cricket is won and lost when you play consistently for a period of 40 overs."

"Shai is a world-class cricketer," Gambhir said. "We respect him for what he's done in white-ball cricket, not only in the 50-over format but in this format as well. His record speaks for him. What he did today, especially after losing two wickets [in the first over]. To continue batting at run-rate of 12-plus [an over] with Sherfane, just shows how good they are when the wicket is flat and there's dew. He batted deep which was important and in the end he finished the game. He was able to pace his innings really well."

India's innings had included a passage of just 39 runs from overs 12 to 16, which coincided with Shivam Dube's promotion to No. 4 ahead of Shreyas Iyer. Gambhir defended the promotion, pointing to Dube's previous success in the role and India's commitment to a flexible batting order.

"We've used him like this for a long period of time, even at the World Cup and before that. It was not just a one-off today. We've lost momentum today but we've gained a lot of momentum when he's gone at No. 4 and taken down opposition bowlers," Gambhir said. "This is international cricket, sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn't. And more importantly, we've always been flexible with our batting line-up and we'll continue with it. I've said in T20 cricket only the openers are fixed.

"The bottom line is we couldn't defend 250. They batted extremely well. They deserved to win and we still need a lot of work to be done when you're playing against a dangerous team, especially when you lose the toss."

The teams will now move to Indore for the third T20I in less than 48 hours with the five-match series level at 1-1.