Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir faced the press after team India faced a concerning loss vs England in the first test at Headingley.
Alongwith highlighting several aspects of the game and defending his players over concerned areas, the Indian Head Coach also revealed the reason behind Harshit Rana’s inclusion in the Indian squad.
The KKR pacer was included in India’s squad for as a backup pacer for the England tour. However, the latter’s inclusion caught the attention of several cricket fans. The reason has finally been revealed by Indian coach Gautam Gambhir. Gambhir stated that owing to a niggle in the team, the Indian selectors named a backup pacer in the form of Rana.
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However, Gautam Gambhir also clarified that Harshit Rana’s place in the side for the remainder of the test would be decided only after his meeting with the chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar.
He confirmed that if there are no more injury concerns on the side, Rana would have to fly back to India.
“I haven’t spoken to the chairman selector; I will speak to the chairman of selectors because there was a bit of a niggle in the group. That is why we wanted him as a backup. But at the moment, everything looks fine, so if everyone is fine, he would have to fly back,” said Gautam Gambhir on being asked for Harshit Rana’s chances after the first test.
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Gautam Gambhir showed faith in his team’s calibre
Indian coach Gautam Gambhir didn’t look too disappointed by his team’s defeat in the first test at Headingley. He not only appreciated the performance of his batters but also defended crunch situations under which Indian fielders kept fumbling and missing out on crucial catches on the field.
On being asked about India’s on-field performance, Gautam Gambhir stated that catches are often missed on the field. Even the best of players miss catches on some occasions. The likes of Indian greats like Ravindra Jadeja also fumbled at times; however, Yashasvi Jaiswal had a forgettable night, missing out on a pile of grabs.
The catches dropped included the vital wickets of Ben Duckett, who eventually took the game away from the clutches of the Men in Blue.
However, Gautam Gambhir has been affected more by the Indian lower order’s disappointing performance. In both of the Indian innings, when the top-order batter got out after scoring big hundreds, the lower order was dismissed in no time in either of the Indian innings.
Karun Nair, who made his return to the Indian test side alongside Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur combined, could not score even 100 runs across the two innings.
Other than India’s top order, their performance in the batting department has been a major concern for the Indian head coach, which he openly expressed in the press conference.
Could Harshit Rana be of some help to India in the England tour?
Harshit Rana made his debut for the Indian national side last year in 2024. He made his red-ball debut in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. He played 2 matches in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and was later replaced by Akash Deep on the Indian side.
Harshit Rana went on to pick 7 wickets in the two games and seemed an imminent threat to the Australian batting unit. The pacer also made his ODI debut earlier this year in England’s tour of India and was part of India’s 2025 ICC Champions Trophy-winning squad.
Especially after the first test, the Indian coach can look for options in Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh or even Nitish Reddy to replace Shardul Thakur if Harshit Rana is sent back.
What changes might be made to India’s playing 11 for the second test?
Indian players Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, captain Shubman Gill and vice-captain Rishabh Pant might be the centurions from the First Headingley Test.
Sai Sudharsan, who made his debut for India in the longest format of the game after a successful IPL season, would probably be handed another opportunity by the Indian management.
Though Karun Nair returned to the Indian test side after several successful domestic seasons, he did not have the best of starts to his career after returning to international cricket. Considering the exposed weakness of India’s lower order, Indian coach Gautam Gambhir might consider bringing in Dhruv Jurel at no. 6.
Also, Nitish Kumar Reddy, the batter who showed promising form back in Australia on his debut test tour, can be brought back into the side to strengthen their batting down the order. No changes might be made to the bowling deck, with the three frontline pacers making it to Edgbaston.
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