The Indian cricket team's new era under captain Shubman Gill got off to a rocky start as they were beaten by England in the first Test match on Tuesday. The Indian bowlers did not impress at all as they failed to defend a 371-run target in the fourth innings. With the exception of Jasprit Bumrah, the fast bowlers struggled massively against the England batters while the batting middle-order failed on both occasions as the team suffered major collapses. The other area where the cricketers faced massive criticism was fielding as they were guilty of dropping multiple catches. The social media users were extremely criticial of the Indian cricket team stars and even urged Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to come out of retirement.
Meanwhile, India skipper Shubman Gill admitted they had their opportunities but failed to capitalise on them, as England pulled off a dramatic five-wicket victory on the final day of the first Test at Headingley. Chasing 371, the hosts rode on a dominant opening stand and composed finishes from Joe Root and debutant Jamie Smith to take a 1-0 lead in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
"A brilliant Test match," said Gill after the loss. "We had chances in the match, a few dropped catches, and the lower order didn't contribute as it would have been." Reflecting on the second innings, where India collapsed from 333/4 to 364 all out, Gill revealed that India were initially planning a declaration.
“Yesterday we were thinking to give them around 400-430 to chase and declare, but our lower order added around 20-25 runs, which is never a good sign,” he said. “Even today, I thought after their brilliant opening partnership, we did have our chances but just didn't go our way.”
England's chase was headlined by Ben Duckett's dazzling 149 and his 188-run opening stand with Zak Crawley, which set the tone early on. Thakur's double strike brought brief hope as he dismissed Duckett and Harry Brook in successive deliveries, but Root and Smith's unbroken 71-run stand sealed the game in style.
(With IANS inputs)