Not Just Century But Victory Is Important: Gambhir
- By Thetripurapost Desk, London
- Jun 26, 2025
- 817
After losing the Leeds Test, Indian coach Gautam Gambhir has said that not just centuries but victories matter. He said this in response to the question of Pant's centuries.
On the performance of the bowlers, Gambhir said- 'India's young bowlers will have to be given time.' He praised Shubman Gill's captaincy and Jasprit Bumrah's bowling.
India had to face a 5-wicket defeat in the first Test against England. The team set a difficult target of 371 runs on the last day, which the English team achieved for 5 wickets.
Key points from coach Gautam Gambhir...
1. Individual performance is good, but victory is the biggest thing When asked about Rishabh Pant's two centuries, Gambhir said, "Three more centuries have been scored in the first Test against England. That too is a big positive, but not just a century, victory matters more. The centuries of these five batsmen Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill (first Test as captain), KL Rahul and Pant are a positive thing."
2. Bumrah will play only 3 Tests On the question of Jasprit Bumrah, Gautam Gambhir has clarified that fast bowler Bumrah taking five wickets was great. We will not change our plan. It is important to manage Bumrah's workload, because there is more cricket ahead.
Expressing confidence in the young bowlers, Gambhir said, the team we have selected is with confidence and not with hope. We believe that these bowlers will do better. In this Test too, we were in a good position for four days.
3. It is important to give time and experience to young fast bowlers Gambhir said, it is important to give time and experience to the young fast bowlers of India. Except Bumrah, no bowler looked very effective. Prasidh Krishna, Siraj and Shardul Thakur could not perform consistently well in line-length.
He further said, earlier we had four such fast bowlers who had experience of more than 40 Tests. Experience matters a lot in Test cricket, especially in foreign tours. If we judge the bowlers after every Test, then how will we create a fast bowling unit. Prasidh Krishna has all the qualities to become a great Test bowler.
Gambhir justified the captain's decision to bowl less to Shardul. He said sometimes the captain prefers a spinner according to the circumstances.
4. Sometimes players fail On the lower order batting, Gambhir said that in both the innings of India, the lower order batsmen got out early due to which a big lead could not be made. In the first innings, India lost the last 6 wickets in making 41 runs. While in the second innings, they lost 5 wickets in 31 runs. It is not that they did not try, but sometimes players fail. This is a normal thing.
He further said, if we had reached 570-580 in the first innings, we would have had a strong grip on the match. They are working hard in the nets and hopefully the tailenders will do well in the future.
5. Shubman Gill's captaincy was good Gambhir said about captain Gill, Gill scored a brilliant century in his first Test as captain, it was the first match so it is natural to be nervous, but he did very well. He has all the qualities to become a successful captain. We just have to give it time.
India lost the first test by 5 wickets
The Indian team lost by 5 wickets against England in the first Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. The team is trailing 0-1 in the 5-match series. The second match of the series will be played in Birmingham from July 2. On the last day of the match on Tuesday at Headingley Cricket Stadium in Leeds, England had to score 350 runs, which the team achieved by losing 5 wickets. Ben Duckett scored 149 and Jack Crowley scored 65 runs. Ben Stokes scored 33 runs. From India, Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna took two wickets each.