Shubman Gill was pretty let down after his first match as Test captain ended in a loss. India lost to England by five wickets in the first Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series at Headingley, Leeds, on Tuesday. Poor fielding and not enough support for Jasprit Bumrah’s great performance made things tougher for India. The bowlers gave away 44 boundaries and three sixes in the second innings, plus 54 boundaries and five sixes in the first.
“I think it was a good Test match. We had our chances, but dropped some catches and our lower-order batters didn’t score enough,” Shubman said in the post-match talk. “We thought we could’ve set around 430 and declared, but our last six wickets only added about 20-25 runs, which isn’t ideal. Even after their good opening partnership, I felt we could have made a comeback, but it just didn’t work out.”
Shubman mentioned that they talked about their collapse in the first innings and aim to fix that going forward. “Yeah, we discussed it. But when you’re in the game, things happen fast. It’s something we need to get right in the next matches. Chances are hard to come by, especially on pitches like this, and we dropped quite a few catches. We’ve got a young and learning team, so hopefully, we’ll improve in the next matches.”
When asked what they could have done differently, Shubman said, “Not really. In the first session, we bowled well and didn’t give away too many runs. But once the ball gets older, it’s tough to stop runs, and you really need wickets to stay competitive. Some edges just didn’t go to hand. They batted well once the ball got old, seized their chances, and their opening partnership changed the game.”
At one point, it felt like KL Rahul was leading the side, showing that Gambhir’s coaching hasn’t been the best in traditional formats. In the final session, Ravindra Jadeja, who usually does well against Ben Stokes, managed to get the England skipper out with a reverse-sweep that Shubman caught easily.
“He (Jadeja) bowled really well and created some chances, but a few catches didn’t stick. That happens in cricket; you just have to deal with the chances that slip away,” Shubman added.