Gambhir Defends India's Lower Order After Test Collapse, Cites Wicket Failures and Missed Catches as Key Issues

India's aspirations crumbled in the fading light of the fifth day at Headingley, as England completed a 371-run chase, exposing vulnerabilities in the Indian batting lineup. Despite dominating phases of the match, India succumbed to a painful defeat. This marks their seventh loss in the last nine Tests.

Missed catches plagued India throughout the Test. © Getty

The Indian team amassed a total of 835 runs, featuring five centuries, including Rishabh Pant's twin centuries. However, the efforts were undone by 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. These collapses squandered opportunities to build a substantial lead and ultimately proved decisive.

Shubman Gill, reflecting on the match, mentioned a target of "around 435" runs was the initial goal. Head coach Gautam Gambhir believes the turning point occurred earlier. He stated that a first-innings score of "570, 580" would have allowed India to seize control.

Despite the lower order's struggles, Gambhir defended their application. Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna faced criticism for their shot selection.

Gambhir emphasized, "It's not that they weren't applying themselves. Sometimes people fail. And that's okay. It's not like they're not working hard in the nets... Even proper batters fail." He expressed hope for improvement but cautioned against solely blaming the lower order for the defeat.

Another factor contributing to the loss was India's poor catching performance. Seven catches were dropped, including multiple by Yashasvi Jaiswal. Ben Duckett capitalized on a dropped chance, scoring a crucial 149 runs. Gill acknowledged the need for improved standards in this area.

Gill conceded, "Chances don't come easy, especially on wickets like these, and we dropped quite a few catches."

Gambhir dismissed using the team's youth as an excuse. "Every defeat is bad... A young team is not an excuse... We represent 140 crore proud Indians. We will try and give our absolute best. There are no excuses."

Gambhir also confirmed Jasprit Bumrah's limited participation in the remaining Tests. Due to workload management, Bumrah is scheduled to play only two more matches. The specific matches are yet to be determined.

"[Even without Bumrah] we absolutely have the bowling attack [to compete]. We believe in them," Gambhir asserted.