Headline: Gambhir Defends India's Lower Order After Test Collapse, Cites Missed Catches as Key Factor

Gautam Gambhir, the head coach, has voiced his support for the Indian lower order batsmen despite their recent collapses in the first Test against England at Headingley.

India's aspirations crumbled on the final day as England completed a remarkable 371-run chase. This defeat marks India's seventh in their last nine Tests, a particularly painful one given their dominance for much of the match.

India amassed 835 runs, with five batsmen scoring centuries, including Rishabh Pant who achieved the feat in both innings. However, two batting collapses proved fatal.

They suffered a loss of 7 wickets for 41 runs in the first innings and 6 for 31 in the second. The first collapse negated the advantage gained after winning the toss, allowing England to get within six runs of India's 471. The second collapse left India with a vulnerable target of 371 to defend.

Indian fielders miss crucial catches. © Getty

Shubman Gill, who started his captaincy with a century in the first innings, said the team was aiming for a target of "around 435". Gambhir believes the game was lost earlier. "If we could've got to 570, 580 in the first innings, we could've dominated from there," he stated.

Despite the lower order's failures, Gambhir defended their efforts. Shardul Thakur, chosen for his all-round abilities, was dismissed playing loose 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 said. "They were more disappointed than anyone, because they knew we had the opportunity. 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 key factor in the defeat was India's poor catching. They dropped seven catches, with Yashasvi Jaiswal being the main culprit. Jaiswal dropped three catches in the first innings and another on the final day. Ben Duckett, who was dropped on 97, went on to score a match-defining 149. Gill acknowledged the need for improvement 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. And I think it would be one of those things that we have to rectify in the upcoming matches. Chances don't come easy, especially on wickets like these, and we dropped quite a few catches. But I think we have got a young team, still a learning one, and hopefully, in the next matches, we'll be able to improve on those aspects."

Gambhir dismissed the "young team" excuse, stating, "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. 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."

Gambhir confirmed that Jasprit Bumrah will only play two more Test matches, as pre-decided, to manage his workload. The decision on which two Tests Bumrah will play is yet to be made. "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."