Gambhir Defends India's Tailenders After Headingley Collapse, Cites Batting Failures Across the Board

By Kaushik Rangarajan

India's campaign at Headingley concluded in disappointment on the fifth day, as England successfully chased down a target of 371 runs. This defeat marks India's seventh in their last nine Test matches, a particularly painful one considering their dominance in the early stages of the game.

India amassed a total of 835 runs, featuring five centuries, including Rishabh Pant's remarkable feat of scoring a century in each innings. Yet, they still fell short, primarily due to two significant batting collapses.

The Indian batting order crumbled, losing 7 wickets for 41 runs in the first innings and 6 for 31 in the second. The initial collapse prevented India from establishing an imposing lead after winning the toss, allowing England to stay within striking distance. The second collapse resulted in India setting a chaseable target of 371, which England achieved with relative ease.

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

Shubman Gill, who celebrated his captaincy debut with a century in the first innings, stated that the team aimed for a target of approximately 435 runs. However, head coach Gautam Gambhir believes the momentum shifted much earlier. "If we could've got to 570, 580 in the first innings, we could've dominated from there," he noted.

Despite the lower order's struggles, Gambhir defended their efforts. Shardul Thakur, selected for his all-round capabilities, fell victim to expansive shots in both innings, while Prasidh Krishna was dismissed 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 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 in India's defeat was their poor catching performance. They dropped seven catches throughout the match, with Yashasvi Jaiswal being the main culprit. Jaiswal dropped three catches in the first innings and another on the final day, gifting Ben Duckett a reprieve when he was on 97. Duckett then went on to score a decisive 149. Gill acknowledged the challenging conditions at Headingley, particularly the slope affecting visibility in 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, however, 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 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."

In other news, Gambhir confirmed that Jasprit Bumrah will only participate in two more Test matches due to a pre-arranged workload management plan. The specific matches are yet to be determined. "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."