Gambhir Defends India's Tailenders After Test Collapse, Cites Costly Missed Catches

India's valiant effort ultimately fell short on the final day at Headingley. Despite dictating terms for much of the Test, they couldn't deliver the knockout blow, allowing England to complete a 371-run chase with relative ease. This marks India's seventh defeat in their last nine Tests, a particularly frustrating one considering their dominance at times.

India amassed 835 runs in the match, boasting five individual centurions, including Rishabh Pant with a century in each innings, yet still ended up on the losing side. The key factor? Two dramatic collapses.

They lost 7 wickets for 41 runs in the first innings, and 6 for 31 in the second. The initial collapse squandered an opportunity to put England under immense pressure after winning the toss, enabling them to get within six runs of India's 471. The second collapse proved more damaging, leaving India with a target of 371 to defend, a chaseable score that England ultimately achieved.

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

Shubman Gill, who began his captaincy with a brilliant century in the first innings, mentioned that the team was aiming for a target of around 435. However, head coach Gautam Gambhir believes the turning point occurred earlier. "If we could've got to 570, 580 in the first innings, we could've dominated from there," he stated.

Despite the lower order's struggles, Gambhir defended their efforts. Shardul Thakur, selected as a bowling all-rounder, was dismissed playing expansive shots in both innings. Prasidh Krishna was out attempting a slog sweep while batting with Ravindra Jadeja.

"Look, first of all, it's not that they weren't applying themselves. Sometimes people fail. And that's okay," Gambhir explained. "I know it's disappointing. And more importantly, I think they were more disappointed than anyone, because they knew we had the opportunity. It's not like they're not working hard in the nets. These things happen. 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."

Another significant factor was India's poor catching performance. They dropped seven catches in the match, with Yashasvi Jaiswal being a repeat offender. Jaiswal dropped Ben Duckett on 97, who then went on to score a crucial 149. Gill acknowledged the challenges at Headingley, particularly with the slope affecting visibility for the slip cordon, and emphasized the need for improved standards.

"Yes, that was something that we spoke about," Gill said. "But when you are out there in the middle, it happens so quickly. And I think it would be one of those things that we have to rectify in the upcoming matches. Chances don't come easy, especially on wickets like these, and we dropped quite a few catches. But I think we have got a young team, still a learning one, and hopefully, in the next matches, we'll be able to improve on those aspects."

Gambhir dismissed using the "young team" narrative as an excuse. "Every defeat is bad. It's not about a young team or an experienced team. It's an Indian team. We take pride in winning each and every game for our country. 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. We will turn up every Test match thinking that we can win the test match and win the series."

The head coach also confirmed that Jasprit Bumrah would play only two more Test matches, as pre-determined to manage his workload. The decision on which two Tests hasn't been made yet. "No, we won't change the plans. I think for us to manage his workload is more important because there's a lot of cricket going forward and we know what he brings on the table as well. Before he came on the show, it was already decided that he's going to play three Test matches.

"But let's see how his body turns out. We haven't decided which two other Test matches he's going to play. [Even without Bumrah] we absolutely have the bowling attack [to compete]. We believe in them. We trust in them. When we pick the squad, we pick the squad on trust, not on hope. As I just mentioned, those are inexperienced bowlers but they will keep getting better. We saw in this Test match as well that for the first four days, even on day five, we were in a position where we could have won the Test match. We believe and we trust that these boys will deliver for us."