India's Batting Collapses Trigger Test Loss; Gambhir Defends Lower Order Despite Failures

Gambhir Defends Lower Order After India's Test Match Collapse

India's campaign at Headingley ended in defeat after England chased down a target of 371 runs with relative ease. Despite scoring 835 runs and featuring five centurions, including Rishabh Pant's centuries in both innings, India succumbed to a frustrating loss, their seventh in the last nine Tests.

India dropped crucial catches throughout the Test match on a surface that didn't offer a lot of help. © Getty

The turning point? Two significant batting collapses.

India suffered a loss of 7 wickets for 41 runs in the first innings and 6 for 31 in the second. The first collapse prevented India from establishing a truly dominant position after winning the toss, allowing England to stay within striking distance. The second collapse left India with a defendable but ultimately insufficient target of 371.

Shubman Gill, who marked his captaincy debut with a brilliant century in the first innings, revealed the team aimed for a target of around 435. However, head coach Gautam Gambhir believed a first-innings score of 570 or 580 would have secured dominance.

Gambhir defended the lower order's performance, despite Shardul Thakur's expansive shots leading to his dismissal in both innings and Prasidh Krishna's attempted slog sweep.

"It's not that they weren't applying themselves. Sometimes people fail, and that's okay," Gambhir stated. He acknowledged the players' disappointment, emphasizing their hard work and the unpredictable nature of the game. "Even proper batters fail. Hopefully, they'll learn, and hopefully, we'll get better performances from our tail. And that is not the only reason we lost the Test match."

India's catching woes significantly contributed to the defeat. They dropped seven catches, including multiple misses by Yashasvi Jaiswal. Ben Duckett, reprieved on 97, went on to score a crucial 149. Gill admitted the team needed to improve their catching standards, especially on challenging wickets like Headingley.

"Yes, that was something that we spoke about," Gill said. "But when you are out there in the middle, it happens so quickly... Chances don't come easy, especially on wickets like these, and we dropped quite a few catches... hopefully, in the next matches, we'll be able to improve on those aspects."

However, Gambhir dismissed the "young team" narrative as an excuse for the loss. "Every defeat is bad. It's not about a young team or an experienced team. It's an Indian team... We represent 140 crore proud Indians. We will try and give our absolute best. There are no excuses. We will turn up every Test match thinking that we can win the test match and win the series."

Gambhir also confirmed that Jasprit Bumrah would adhere to a pre-series plan, playing only two more Test matches to manage his workload. The decision on which Tests Bumrah would play remained undecided. Despite this, Gambhir expressed confidence in the team's bowling attack, emphasizing the trust placed in them. "We believe and we trust that these boys will deliver for us."