Captain Shubman Gill, in his first appearance as India Test captain, was honest and upfront about his team’s loss to England in the series opener at Headingley on Tuesday.
A batting collapse in each of the innings and the dropped catches hurt India badly in
the opening Test, Gill acknowledged.
Speaking at the post-match presentation following India’s five-wicket defeat, the skipper said: “We had our chances, but we dropped catches and our lower order didn’t contribute enough.
“Yesterday (Monday), we were thinking of giving them a target of 430-435 and declaring, but unfortunately, our lower order couldn’t contribute enough as we lost six wickets for just 20-25 runs (31). That makes things difficult.
“Even today (Tuesday), we had our chances after their (England’s) brilliant first-wicket stand. But some of the edges didn’t go to hand.
“We also spoke about the first-innings collapse, 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 on wickets like these, but we have a young team. A learning one... Hope to improve from hereon.”
Barring spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, all the other Indian bowlers leaked runs in the first Test of this Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, which again underlines how big a concern bowling is for Team India. “It’s hard to stop runs once the ball gets old. But we have to keep taking wickets when the ball gets soft,” Gill admitted.
Asked if a little more was expected of senior spinner all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on a final-day wicket, Gill replied: “He bowled brilliantly, created chances and effected a pop-up, which Rishabh (Pant) didn’t see. That happens, though.”
Bumrah puzzle
After his five-wicket haul in the first essay, Bumrah ended wicketless in the 19 overs he bowled in the fourth innings. Surprisingly, he was not brought on for one final burst even when India took the new ball after 80 overs, with England still needing 22 to win.
With his workload being a major issue, will India play him in the next Test in Birmingham? There’s still some time, though, as the second Test begins on July 2.
“It’s decided game by game,” Gill said. “Once we’re close to the next game after a long break, we’ll see.”