India defeated West Indies by 8 wickets in the second ODI at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on September 30, 2026. West Indies posted 405 for 7 in their 50 overs, as Amir Jangoo, Shai Hope, and John Campbell scored centuries. However, India chased down the target with nonchalance in 43.3 overs, losing only 2 wickets, with Shubman Gill remaining unbeaten on 223 after Rohit Sharma scored 101.
Dinesh Karthik, speaking after the match, expressed serious reservations about the pitch and its impact on the contest. The former India wicketkeeper felt the surface had been heavily skewed in favour of the batting side, removing any meaningful competition between bat and ball. Karthik stated that when chasing 406, India could have completed the task even earlier if they had chosen to accelerate further, highlighting how one-sided the contest had become.
“When you see something like this, you seriously start to think, what is the health of this format? It just cannot be in favor of batters this much. You cannot have matches that are in favor of just one skill. You need to have pitches that definitely provide a little more to the bowlers,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
“If you are talking about ODI cricket, whether it is dying, or how we sustain it, this is a great example. They are chasing 406 with 7-8 overs to spare, and they could have easily done it earlier if they wanted to. If I have to be brutally honest, I don’t think this game was fun to watch,” he added.
Pitch conditions overwhelmingly favoured batting
Karthik elaborated on the specific conditions that made the pitch unsuitable for a balanced contest. He identified the absence of turn, lack of assistance for pace bowlers and the presence of dew as factors that combined to create an environment where only batting could flourish. The cricketer-turned-commentator explained that as a captain, the only consideration before assigning bowling duties became which bowler would concede the fewest runs rather than which bowler could take wickets.
“Flat pitch, no turn, nothing for the pacers, and on top of it, dew. That is an absolute recipe for disaster. We are all Indian fans, and it is quite fun to watch from an Indian fan’s point of view. But if you take the sport in general, it becomes only exciting when there are two teams competing, and it is a level playing field in terms of all skills in the game. Here, as a captain, all I am thinking before deciding who should bowl an over is who will get hit the least,” Karthik said.
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The match saw five centuries scored across both innings, the most in a single ODI encounter. Gill’s unbeaten 223 was the fastest double century in ODI history, while West Indies’ total of 405 represented their highest score against India in one-day international cricket. Despite these record-breaking performances, Karthik’s assessment centred on the absence of a genuine sporting contest and the implications for the format’s long-term health.
