Gautam Gambhir refuses to blame one player for Team India's defeat, defends Gill's captaincy: 'We lose together and win together'

Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir put up a brave face as he defended his young players after a historic loss at Headingley against England. India lost the first Test by five wickets as England completed the 371-run chase with ease .

With the defeat at Leeds, India earned an unwanted record as they became the first team in the history of cricket to lose a match despite scoring five hundreds.

The critics have lambasted the Indian cricket team for their poor fielding as they dropped seven catches in the match, including four by Yashasvi Jaiswal, and the lower order failed in both innings. New Test captain Shubman Gill’s decision-making and the poor support from change bowlers for Jasprit Bumrah have also been criticised.

Gambhir: ‘I won’t single out anyone for defeat’

Coach Gambhir, however, refused to single out a player or department for India’s loss, and added that they will take the responsibility for the defeat as a unit.

“The first thing is that catches get dropped,” Gambhir said in the post-match press conference. “The best fielders drop catches. The lower-order batting was a bit disappointing. If we had made 600 in the first innings, we could have dominated. Hopefully we will learn in the second Test [in Birmingham].

“But that is not the only reason we lost. Everyone wants to contribute and I won’t single out anyone. We lose together and win together.”

Also Read | Where Team India went wrong in 1st Test at Headingley and why they lost

Gambhir also urged patience towards young captain Gill, whose tactics have been questioned by the experts. Critics felt that his bowling changes and field placements were often far from what the situation demanded.

“These are tough places to captain. It’s like pushing someone into the deep sea, and I am sure he is going to come out as a proper professional," Gambhir added.

“Look, first Test match, obviously, there are nerves. It’s a great honour. As he’s already mentioned, captain of the Test side-not many people get that opportunity and he was phenomenal."

Also Read | India achieve unwanted record with Headingley defeat as England pull off second-highest Test chase

Gambhir defends Gill’s leadership on debut as Test captain

Asked if the chastening defeat will make the series even more daunting for Team India’s young players. Gambhir said: “Every defeat is bad. It’s not about the young team. It’s about the experience. We take pride in winning each and every game for our country. Young team is not an excuse. We represent 140 crore proud Indians and we will try and give our absolute best with no excuses.”

The coach also confirmed once again that despite India going 1-0 down in the five-match series, pacer Bumrah will only play three matches in the series.

“To manage his workload is more important. There’s a lot of cricket going forward and we know what he brings to the table. Before we came on this tour, it was already decided that he was going to play three Test matches. We haven’t decided which two other Tests he’s going to play.”

Gambhir says not the right time to judge bowlers

Talking about the poor performance of the support bowlers, Gambhir said that the current bowling group is highly inexperienced, but talented, and they need to be backed.

“This bowling attack has one bowler with five Tests under his belt, one has four, one has played two and one hasn’t yet debuted,” Gambhir said.

“We will have to give them time. Earlier, we used to have four fast bowlers in the squad with an experience of more than 40 Tests. It doesn’t make such a big impact in one-day or T20 matches, but when you go to Australia, England or South Africa for Tests, experience matters. These are early days.

“If we start judging our bowlers after every Test, how will be develop a bowling attack? Outside Bumrah and (Mohammad) Siraj, we don’t have that much experience, but they have quality, which is why they are in this dressing room. But we have got to keep backing them because it’s not about one tour. It’s about building a fast-bowler battery that can serve India for long time in Test cricket.”

The next Test starts only on 2 July in Birmingham, giving Team India valuable time to regroup, analyse their mistakes, and work on improving.