Gujarat Giants bowling coach Pravin Tambe said that the long gap between matches helped the side prepare for the new conditions despite the team losing to Delhi Capitals on Tuesday at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The Giants returned to WPL action after seven days and kicked off their Bengaluru leg with a six-wicket defeat to the two-time finalist.
“I don’t think so [whether the gap did more harm than good]. We played three matches on the trot in Vadodara, and we got enough time to assess things. Obviously, the wickets were different; coming to red soil from black soil. But, I don’t think that affected us that much,” the former Indian Premier League (IPL) bowler told reporters after the match.
The match also saw GG shuffle around its inconsistent top-order, with Harleen Deol opening for the first time this season and Phoebe Litchfield coming in for a disappointing Laura Wolvaardt. While these changes failed to make their mark, Tambe defended the choices.
ALSO READ: Chinelle Henry is here to ‘entertain, entertain, entertain’
“Our squad has the potential. If we scored 200 today, then this question wouldn’t be asked. We did make changes, but those were based on the conditions we were going to play. I think we were about 30-40 runs short. The ball was seaming a lot on this pitch, and the DC bowlers bowled really well.”
Jess Jonassen, the Australian all-rounder who shone with the bat after scoring her maiden WPL half-century, also weighed in on the dual nature of having long gaps in a tournament such as this.
“It can work both ways. If you can get on a winning roll, then that can help. On the other hand, if you lose consecutive matches, then that can have the opposite effect. For us, the good thing is that we have so much experience in the dressing room that one bad night is not enough to derail us. With a quick turnaround, you don’t have time to dwell on your mistakes.”
