Leeds– India captain Shubman Gill acknowledged that missed opportunities and a late batting collapse played a decisive role in the team’s five-wicket defeat to England in the first Test at Headingley. England now leads 1-0 in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy after successfully chasing down a daunting 371 on the final day.
“It was a brilliant Test match,” said Gill after the loss. “We had our chances—a few dropped catches—and our lower order didn’t contribute the way we needed them to.”
India looked to be in control at 333/4 in their second innings, but a collapse saw them bowled out for 364, surrendering momentum. Gill revealed that the team had originally planned to declare with a lead between 400 and 430 runs.
“Yesterday, we were considering declaring around the 400-430 mark, but the lower order only managed to add about 20–25 runs. That’s never ideal,” he said. “Even today, after their brilliant opening stand, we still created opportunities—but things just didn’t go our way.”
England’s chase was anchored by a scintillating 149 from Ben Duckett and a 188-run opening stand with Zak Crawley, which set the tone. A double strike by Shardul Thakur, removing Duckett and Harry Brook in consecutive deliveries, briefly raised India’s hopes. But a composed, unbroken 71-run partnership between Joe Root and debutant Jamie Smith sealed the win for the hosts.
Fielding lapses proved costly, and Gill didn’t shy away from admitting it.
“Chances don’t come easy on wickets like these, and we dropped quite a few. We’ve got a young team that’s still learning. Hopefully, we can improve in the next matches,” he said.
When asked if he would have done anything differently as captain, Gill pointed to the difficult conditions and England’s strong batting.
“Our first bowling session was spot on. But once the ball gets old, it’s hard to contain the runs. You need to keep taking wickets to stay in the game. Some chances didn’t find the fielders, and that made the difference,” he said. “They batted really well. After the ball got older, they took their chances, and that opening partnership took the game away from us.”
Gill praised Ravindra Jadeja’s effort on the final day. “He bowled brilliantly. He created a few chances—a couple of pop-ups—but sometimes they just don’t go your way.”
Jasprit Bumrah’s wicketless second innings raised concerns, and Gill confirmed that the team would monitor his workload ahead of the second Test.
“It’s definitely something we take game by game. There’s a good break before the next match, so we’ll evaluate closer to the time,” he said.
India had dominated the early phases of the match, posting 471 in the first innings with centuries from Gill, Rishabh Pant, and Yashasvi Jaiswal. However, a second-innings collapse, poor lower-order output, and fielding errors allowed England to stage a dramatic comeback. (Source: IANS)
