India captain Shubman Gill said that the lower-order collapse in both innings did cost them a lot during the five-wicket loss to England in the first Test on Tuesday. Despite vice-captain Rishabh Pant scoring centuries in each innings of the first Test and KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Gill himself hitting their respective tons, India failed to post bigger totals in both innings and also dropped crucial catches as well.
“It was a brilliant Test match. We had our chances, we dropped catches and our lower-order didn’t contribute enough, but proud of the team and overall a good effort. Yesterday, we were thinking around 430 odd and declared, but we lost six wickets for 25 runs (31),” Gill said during the post-match presentation ceremony.
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“Unfortunately, we didn’t score runs at the end which always makes it difficult. (It) just didn’t go our way in this match.” “That (lower-order contribution) was something we spoke about. (But) it (collapses) happened so quickly. (It) could be one of those things we have to rectify in the upcoming matches,” he said.
Shubman Gill backed his side, saying that it is a “young team” after a string of dropped catches in the match. Jaiswal alone dropped four catches.
“Definitely, chances don’t come easy on wickets like these. It’s a young team, (a) learning one and hopefully we will be able to improve on those aspects,” he said. “(In) the first session we were quite spot on, didn’t give away many runs. It’s hard to stop the runs once the ball softens. Unfortunately, some edges didn’t go our way. They took their chances after the ball got old. That happens in a game of cricket. You expect that everything won’t go your way.”
Shubman Gill also confirmed that there is a long break for the second Test, which starts in Birmingham on July 2, and the team will take a call on Jasprit Bumrah before the game as well.
“It’s definitely more game by game. Once we are close to the match we will see,” he said on Bumrah’s availability.
