India head coach Gautam Gambhir stood firmly behind his bowlers after West Indies gunned down a record target of 250 in the second T20I in Ranchi, arguing that the poor balance between bat and ball is putting bowling careers on the line. He said the bowlers are not outsiders and have worked hard to earn their place in the dressing room – and their careers are at stake too.

The comments came just 10 days after Gambhir’s ODI side chased down a record 406-run target against the same opposition in Guwahati. On both occasions, he reflected on the plight of bowlers, with placid pitches leaving them with limited options. An even contest between bat and ball, he said, would produce better cricket.

Flat tracks and dew

Batting first, India had racked up 249 on the back of Sanju Samson’s 82 and quick cameos from Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma and Ishan Kishan. Gambhir downplayed the effect of the toss under dewy conditions but admitted the bowling challenge. He described the conditions as tough – flat wickets with dew – and said India needed to find a way to stop the opposition, especially when West Indies lost two wickets in the first over and three in the first six.

Credit for Chase

While nearly every Indian bowler was taken apart through the evening, Gambhir singled out West Indies off-spinner Roston Chase for a game-defining spell of 3 for 24 in a run-fest. He called it a match-winning spell and praised the way Chase kept changing his lines on the wicket, urging his own bowlers to vary their approach: bowlers must keep changing lines and make the batters guess, because the same line and length lets batters settle in. With the series level 1-1, India face the Windies in the third T20I in Indore on Sunday – and Gambhir’s bowlers will need answers fast.