Managing Jasprit Bumrah's workload important for us: Gautam Gambhir

India head coach Gautam Gambhir made it clear that individual brilliance means little in the face of a team defeat, downplaying Rishabh Pant's twin centuries in the opening Test loss to England. Speaking after the five-wicket defeat at Headingley, Gambhir, known for his no-nonsense approach, focused more on the result than on standout performances.  Gambhir on Bumrah's participation in the next Tests 

India head coach Gautam Gambhir has confirmed that Jasprit Bumrah will not be overburdened during the ongoing Test series against England, stating that the star pacer will only play in three of the five scheduled matches. Despite India’s defeat in the opening Test at Headingley, where Bumrah stood out as the only consistent threat with the ball, the team management will stick to its pre-planned strategy to manage his workload. 

 

“No, we won’t change the plans,” Gambhir said. “For us, managing his workload is more important because there’s a lot of cricket coming up and we know what he brings to the table. Before he even joined the team, it was decided that he’s going to play three Test matches.” 

  Gambhir emphasises on good batting displays  

When asked specifically about vice-captain Pant’s back-to-back centuries, Gambhir brushed off the praise. “There are three more centuries as well. Those are big positives as well. Thank you,” he responded curtly, referring to other notable contributions with the bat.

 

Prodded further about any positives from the match, he expanded: “I would have liked if you said there was a hundred from Yashasvi (Jaiswal), hundred from Shubman (Gill) on debut as captain. Hundred from KL (Rahul) and two centuries from Rishabh, so five centuries in a Test match is a great start to be honest. And hopefully the question could have been better.” 

 

India posted a solid total and set England a challenging target of 371, but the hosts chased it down on Day 5, led by Ben Duckett’s commanding 149. Despite a five-wicket haul from Jasprit Bumrah and strong individual batting performances, the result left the Indian camp disappointed.

 

“These are great positives, we had a fifer from Jasprit Bumrah as well,” Gambhir noted. “Eventually everything boils down to the fact that... we go out there to get the results.”

 

He further stressed the importance of team success over individual milestones: “Yes, individual performances are good, we want those big runs from our top six or seven, which we got in this Test match. But at the end of the day, you go out there to win a Test match.”

 

“Unfortunately, that wasn’t the result. So we take it on the chin and move forward,” he concluded, signaling India’s intent to bounce back strongly in the remainder of the series.