Gautam Gambhir flags India's biggest challenge ahead of New Zealand ODIs

NewsSports NewsCricket News'Most inexperienced bowling attack': Gautam Gambhir flags India's biggest challenge ahead of New Zealand ODIs 'Most inexperienced bowling attack': Gautam Gambhir flags India's biggest challenge ahead of New Zealand ODIs Edited by Hijam Raju Singh / TIMESOFINDIA.COM / Nov 02, 2026, 05:59 IST India's head coach Gautam Gambhir with Arshdeep Singh.

(PTI Photo) NEW DELHI: India head coach Gautam Gambhir has identified the inexperienced bowling attack as the biggest challenge facing the visitors in the upcoming five-match ODI series against New Zealand, beginning November 4.

With Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya unavailable, India will have to depend on a relatively inexperienced group of pacers, led by Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh.Gambhir believes that if India manage to deliver results in the ODI series, the bowlers should receive much of the credit rather than the more experienced batting unit.

The challenge is particularly significant with India having to balance preparations for the white-ball matches and the two-Test series scheduled towards the end of the tour. Watch Gautam Gambhir on India's challenges, young players & ODI series "It's important for me to win every series.

It's not just about winning in New Zealand. It's challenging to win every series. Because if you look at it, this will probably be the most inexperienced bowling attack in ODI cricket," Gambhir said on Sunday.The numbers underline his concern.

Siraj, with 51 ODIs, is the most experienced pacer in the group. Arshdeep has played 18, while Auqib Nabi and Anshul Kamboj have one ODI each. Gurnoor Brar has featured in nine."No one will talk about it. But if you look at it, Aqib Nabi (1 ODI).

Anshul Khamboj, one match. Gurnoor, how many? 10 matches (nine). Only Arshdeep is our most experienced bowler (18)."Despite that, if we do well in the one-day series, the credit will go to this bowling attack. It will go to these boys.

We have experience in batting. We have a lot of experience in batting."But when you come overseas, your bowlers win the series, especially in one-day and Test cricket. So if we go ahead and do well in one-day cricket, a lot of credit should be given to these bowlers rather than talking too much about the batters," he added.Gambhir's challenge to Abhishek Sharma Gambhir also spoke about the improvement Abhishek Sharma showed against New Zealand off-spinner Michael Bracewell during the five-match T20I series.

The India opener had struggled against off-spin earlier in the series but worked on that aspect of his batting during extended net sessions with the head coach, himself a former accomplished player of spin bowling."Obviously, Abhishek has struggled a bit with off-spin.

The more he gets better at it, obviously, he will become an overall better player. And you want to keep improving yourself because the opposition keeps studying you."The way you bat, the way you make runs, the speed with which you bat.

So if you improve your game, the different areas, if you improve against different bowlers, you will be one step ahead of the opposition."So that's what I was talking about. Because in the first match, when he was bowling off-spin, obviously, he got a little tied up.

It was just a very tactical and technical stuff that we spoke about," Gambhir said.Gambhir hails India's 'incredible' T20I series win Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app. Hijam Raju Singh is an Assistant News Editor with The Times of India Digital, with more than 20 years of journalism experience, including over 18 years in sports journalism.

A graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, he has been associated with The Times of India’s Digital Sports Desk for more than 18 years. He specialises in analytical, statistical and data-driven sports coverage, with a particular interest in cricket, football, tennis and Olympic sports.

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