(Reuters) – India will look to deploy a high-octane, attacking style in Twenty20 Internationals and are ready to accept the risks that come with it, head coach Gautam Gambhir said after his side beat England to clinch a 4-1 series victory.
On Sunday, Abhishek Sharma’s magnificent century powered India to a 150-run win over England in the fifth and final T20 international at Wankhede Stadium.
Abhishek’s 135 off 54 was the second-fastest T20I hundred for India, while their total of 247 was their fourth-highest total in a T20I.
“That’s the kind of T20 cricket we want to play. We don’t want to fear losing a game of cricket. We want to play high-risk, high-reward cricket. These guys have adopted that ideology, that policy really well,” Gambhir said after the win.
“I think the ideology of this T20 team is based on selflessness and fearlessness. In the last six months, these guys have done it day in, day out. We want to try and get to 250-260 regularly. In trying to do that, there’ll be games where we’ll get bundled out for 120-130.
“That is what T20 cricket is all about. Unless and until you don’t play that high-risk cricket, you won’t get those big rewards as well… Come those big tournaments, we want to still continue playing this way and we don’t want to fear losing anything.”
India will next play three one-day internationals against England from Feb. 6, before beginning their Champions Trophy campaign with a Group A match against Bangladesh in Dubai on Feb. 20.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Nashik, India; Editing by Saad Sayeed)
