Following India’s five-wicket defeat to England in the first Test at Headingley, former head coach Ravi Shastri did not hold back. Speaking to Sky Sports Cricket, Shastri urged current head coach Gautam Gambhir to adopt a tougher stance in the dressing room, suggesting he should “tick off” players if needed and hold individuals accountable for repeated mistakes.
India’s fielding woes were front and center—five catches were dropped in England’s first innings alone, with Yashasvi Jaiswal responsible for four of them. These lapses allowed England’s batters to regain control and shift the momentum. Compounding the issue, India’s lower middle order collapsed in both innings despite strong starts from the top order, paving the way for England’s comeback win.
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Calls for a "hard" treatment in the dressing room have been spurred by the lack of passion in crucial moments, especially in the field.
“I think (there is) a big role of the coaching staff,” Shastri said.
"Take the positives out of the contest. As a captain, he (Shubman Gill) has done more than what can be asked of him. He got a hundred; there were five hundreds scored in the game. If anything, you want the basics to be done better. There are things that are out of his control."
"Dropping catches is not in his control. That's where the team as a unit can work harder and get better. Similarly, when you come to bat, you've got to put a price tag on your wicket. You can't come out and blow a situation where you can get about 550-600 by just being timid and meek."
“These are the areas where you've got to be hard at times as a coach, really hard in that dressing room. There are certain things where you tick off a few guys. But, there were a lot of positives in this Test,” said Shastri.
Ben Duckett, who was in fine form, was dropped by Jaiswal on Day 5 just short of his century. The opener took advantage of the wasted chance and hammered a spectacular 149 to help England win. Rishabh Pant, the wicketkeeper, also wasted several chances to get rid of Ben Stokes and Joe Root off deliveries from Ravindra Jadeja during the day.
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