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India’s top order batter Tilak Varma revealed that head coach Gautam Gambhir did not delve into the batting collapse against USA in the T20 World Cup 2026 opener. Varma said that Gambhir wants them to read the conditions better while the recent trend is to go an all out attack.
"Nothing much, sir. Gautam didn't say a lot. He understands that such days come and go. If we are honest, we gave away one or two wickets too many early against the USA. In that situation, he asked us to read the conditions a little earlier," Varma said on the eve of the clash against Namibia at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium.
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From 45/1 in sixth over, India found themselves struggling at 77/6 in the 13th over. But, skipper Suryakumar Yadav rescued them with an unbeaten 49-ball 84. India ended up winning the match by 29 runs as bowlers put up a clinical display.
Despite the collapse, Gambhir wants India to stick to the aggressive approach. He wants the players to be proactive and soak in the pressure if wickets fall in clusters before the accelerate again.
"Yes, we have the batting depth and we are here to play aggressively. But when wickets fall, we can slow it down for an over or two and then accelerate again, considering the depth we have. These were the conversations we had," he said.
"He told us, 'I will back you to play your game,' and encouraged us to stick to the approach we have followed in the recent past."
When was the last time India took on Namibia?
India and Namibia have played just one T20I against each other. The clash took place in T20 World Cup 2021. India restricted Gerhard Erasmus-led Namibia for 132/8. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma scored fifties in the run chase. India won the game with nine wickets in hand and 28 balls to spare in Dubai.
In the ongoing edition, Namibia suffered a seven-wicket loss to the Netherlands in their campaign opener. Namibia played their first group stage game in Delhi as well.
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