‘These are early days…’: Gautam Gambhir reflects on letting India’s inexperienced pace-attack have some free time

Gambhir said Indian bowling attack needs time to improve

Lack of depth in India’s bowling attack did not turned out in their favour as the team lost their opening Test to England by 5 wickets. However, head coach Gautam Gambhir has reflected on this loss and stated that the inexperienced bowlers should be given more time in their “early days“.

Besides Jasprit Bumrah, who secured 5 wickets in England’s first innings, no other bowler managed to impress much as the hosts chased down target of 371 significantly easily on the fifth and final day of the clash.

It is worth noting that the pace trio of Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur were not consistent with their line and lengths throughout the match.

“We will have to give them time. Earlier, we used to have four fast bowlers in the squad with an experience of more than 40 Tests. It doesn’t make such a big impact in one-day or T20 matches, but when you go to Australia, England, or South Africa for Tests, experience matters,” said Gambhir following the loss.

“These are early days. If we start judging our bowlers after every Test, how will we develop a bowling attack? Outside Bumrah and Siraj, we don’t have that much experience, but they (the others) have quality, which is why they are in this dressing room. But we have got to keep backing them because it’s not about one tour. It’s about building a fast-bowler battery that can serve India for a long time in Test cricket,” he added.

Even though India lost the first match of the series, there still is a chance to clap back as there are 4 matches remaining in the series. The second Test is going to begin June 2 in Edgbaston.

Ben Duckett top-scored with 149 as England beat India by five wickets in the first Test of the five-match series for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

Resuming at 21 for no loss on the fifth and final day, England remained unscathed in the first session and even as India fought back with four wickets in the second, they remained ahead in the chase.

Chasing 371 for the win, the hosts reached 373 for 5 from 82 overs.