India's Batting Order Under Fire: Gambhir Defends Tailenders After Test Collapse Against England

Gautam Gambhir has offered his support for the Indian lower order after their batting collapses contributed to a Test defeat against England at Headingley.

India's spirited resistance ultimately fell short on the fifth day. Despite dominating periods of the match, England completed a 371-run chase with relative ease. This loss marks India's seventh in their last nine Tests.

India accumulated 835 runs, featuring five centuries, including Rishabh Pant's twin tons. However, two batting collapses proved costly.

The team suffered a loss of 7 wickets for 41 runs in the first innings, and 6 for 31 in the second. The initial collapse undermined a potentially imposing lead after winning the toss, allowing England to stay within striking distance. The second collapse left India with a chaseable target of 371, which England conquered.

Shubman Gill, who began his captaincy with a century, revealed India aimed for a target "around 435." Coach Gautam Gambhir believed the game shifted earlier, suggesting a first-innings total of "570, 580" would have ensured dominance.

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

Gambhir defended the lower order's application. Shardul Thakur, selected for his all-round ability, was dismissed playing expansive shots in both innings. Prasidh Krishna fell attempting a slog sweep while batting with Ravindra Jadeja.

"It's not that they weren't applying themselves. Sometimes people fail. And that's okay," Gambhir stated. "It's disappointing, and I think they were more disappointed than anyone. It's not like they're not working hard in the nets. 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. Seven catches were dropped, with Yashasvi Jaiswal being a repeat offender. Jaiswal dropped four catches, including one on 97 that reprieved Ben Duckett, who then scored a pivotal 149. Gill acknowledged the challenges at Headingley, but 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... 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 '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... 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 only play two more Tests, according to a pre-series workload management plan. The specific matches are yet to be decided. "We won't change the plans. I think for us to manage his workload is more important... 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... those are inexperienced bowlers but they will keep getting better... We believe and we trust that these boys will deliver for us."