Gambhir Defends India's Tailenders After Headingley Test Collapse

Gautam Gambhir, the head coach, has defended the lower order batsmen following India's recent Test defeat at Headingley against England. Despite scoring 835 runs and featuring five centurions, including Rishabh Pant with a century in each innings, India succumbed to a 371-run chase by England.

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

The defeat, India's seventh in their last nine Tests, was largely attributed to two significant batting collapses: 7 wickets for 41 runs in the first innings and 6 for 31 in the second. These collapses undermined India's strong position after winning the toss and posting 471 in their first innings.

Shubman Gill, who marked his captaincy debut with a century, revealed that the team aimed for a target of around 435. However, Gambhir believes the game slipped away 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 stood by their efforts. Shardul Thakur, selected as a bowling all-rounder, was dismissed playing expansive shots, while Prasidh Krishna fell attempting a slog sweep.

"Look, first of all, it's not that they weren't applying themselves. Sometimes people fail. And that's okay," Gambhir said. "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 critical factor in the loss was India's poor catching. They dropped seven catches, with Yashasvi Jaiswal being a repeat offender. Ben Duckett, who was dropped on 97, went on to score a match-defining 149. Gill acknowledged the dropped catches and emphasized the need for improvement.

While Gill pointed to the team's youth as a factor, Gambhir dismissed it 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... 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 play only two more Test matches, as pre-decided to manage his workload. The specific matches are yet to be determined. "[Even without Bumrah] we absolutely have the bowling attack [to compete]. We believe in them. We trust in them," Gambhir affirmed, expressing confidence in the team's ability to bounce back.