India head coach Gautam Gambhir came out in firm defence of his players following a dramatic five-wicket loss to England in the series opener at Headingley, asserting that no one drops a catch “on purpose.”
In a Test that marked the start of a new era without stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, a youthful Indian side led by Shubman Gill showed promise — especially with the bat — piling up 471 runs in the first innings. But a string of dropped catches and a weak lower order performance saw them squander a dominant position and hand England a stunning win.
India were guilty of six dropped chances in the match, with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal alone responsible for three. The most damaging came on the final day when he put down Ben Duckett on 97 — a reprieve that proved costly as Duckett went on to score 149 and anchor England’s highest-ever successful chase at the venue.
“Catches do get dropped. The best fielders have missed catches. None of them did it on purpose,” said Gambhir during the post-match press conference, backing the young squad despite the criticism.
While fielding lapses were costly, India’s fragile tail-end batting hurt just as much. Despite the top five amassing 721 runs — including five centuries — the lower half contributed only 65 runs across two innings. Gambhir acknowledged the imbalance.
“Yes, from a batting point of view, it’s disappointing,” he said. “In the first innings, we lost seven wickets for 40 runs, and in the second, six wickets for 30. When we had the chance to get close to 600, we couldn’t capitalise.”
Still, the head coach found positives to draw from the match. “We had opportunities across all five days to dominate. These things happen. Hopefully, we learn and bounce back in the second Test.”
With England 1–0 up in the five-match series, India now shift focus to Birmingham, where they’ll look to level the series and tighten their grip on the next chapter of their Test transition.
