Leeds: The chinks in India’s depleted bowling resources were exposed during the opening Test defeat to England but head coach Gautam Gambhir urged critics not to sit in judgement after every game as it becomes an impediment in their development.
Barring Jasprit Bumrah, who got five wickets in England’s first innings, none of the other bowlers looked penetrative as the hosts chased down a target of 371 with minimum fuss.
“This pace attack comprises of one bowler who has played four Tests (Prasidh Krishna), there is another who has played two Tests (Harshit Rana) and one who hasn’t played a Test (Arshdeep Singh),” Gambhir said during the post match press conference here on Tuesday.
“In ODIs, it doesn’t matter, but on tours of England and Australia, these are tough places. It is like throwing them in the sea. If we start judging bowlers after every Test, how do we develop them?”
“If we leave out Bumrah and Siraj, there is not much experience in the line-up but we need to back them as they have got talent,” Gambhir said in bowling unit’s defence.
He felt that Prasidh, who got five wickets in the match despite going for plenty of runs, did a good job and has “all ingredients of becoming a very good Test match bowler”.
He also defended Shardul Thakur, who just bowled 16 overs in an entire match with only six overs in the first innings.
“Sometimes captain goes with his instincts and Ravindra Jadeja gave us control in first innings, that was important and we could rotate our three pacers at other end,” he said.
“We know what is Shardul’s quality and that is why he is playing for India and is in the dressing room. Just because he is the fourth seamer does not necessarily mean that he has to be brought ahead of a spinner. A captain went by his instinct and depending on surface we were playing.”
Gambhir also praised Gill for his phenomenal batting in the first innings and feels that he needs to be given time to develop in a leadership role.
For Gambhir, every defeat is bad, doesn’t matter if the team is “experienced” or filled with young players.
“Every defeat is bad. Doesn’t matter if its young team or experienced team. It’s an Indian team. It is not an excuse for defeat as we represent 140 crore Indians.”
