Gambhir Defends India's Tailenders After Headingley Batting Collapses, Cites Dropped Catches as Key Factor in Test Loss

India's campaign at Headingley concluded in disappointment after England secured a convincing 371-run chase on the fifth day. Despite moments of dominance, India's inability to capitalize on key opportunities led to their seventh defeat in the last nine Tests.

India amassed 835 runs, featuring five centuries, including a century in each innings from Rishabh Pant, but ultimately fell short due to two critical batting collapses.

These collapses saw them lose 7 wickets for 41 runs in the first innings and 6 for 31 in the second. The first collapse prevented India from establishing a commanding lead after winning the toss, while the second left them defending a chaseable target of 371.

Shubman Gill, who marked his captaincy debut with a century in the first innings, mentioned the team's aim was to set a target "around 435." Head coach Gautam Gambhir suggested that an even higher first-innings score could have sealed the match. "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 as a bowling all-rounder, fell to expansive shots in both innings, while Prasidh Krishna was dismissed attempting a slog sweep.

Indian fielders failed to hold onto key chances in the Test match. © Getty

"It's not that they weren't applying themselves. Sometimes people fail. And that's okay," Gambhir stated. "I know it's disappointing...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, with Yashasvi Jaiswal being a repeat offender. Ben Duckett, dropped by Jaiswal on 97, went on to score a crucial 149. Gill acknowledged the need for improved standards in this area.

"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."

Gambhir dismissed the idea of attributing the loss to the team's youth. "Every defeat is bad. It's not about a young team or an experienced team. It's an Indian team...A young team is not an excuse...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 is scheduled to play only two more Test matches in the series to manage his workload. The specific matches have not yet been decided.

"No, we won't change the plans...Before he came on the show, it was already decided that he's going to play three Test matches...Even without Bumrah we absolutely have the bowling attack [to compete]. We believe in them. We trust in them." Gambhir concluded, "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."