Shubman Gill, Gautam Gambhir and Jasprit Bumrah in frame | PC- AFP
Team India lost another ODI series under Shubman Gill, as England took the series home by a margin of 2-1. The latest defeat at Lord's brought curtains down on the Men in Blue's shambolic UK tour, where they just won a solitary contest after playing 10 matches against England and Ireland.
In the series decider, Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out due to a knee injury, while Washington Sundar missed out due to a right hamstring injury. That said, Harshit Rana remained absent from the entire ODI series.
Shubman Gill denounces India's fitness standards
After India's 27-run defeat at Lord's Cricket Ground on Sunday evening, Shubman Gill fired indirect shots at his players who are getting regularly injured, including Jasprit Bumrah and Washington Sundar.
While addressing how an injury disrupts the team combination, the Indian ODI and Test captain emphasised the importance of fitness in the buildup to the ODI World Cup 2027, where they would play at least 11 matches and 13 if they qualified for the final.
"When one player gets injured, you have to play a different combination. If two are injured, you play a different combination. I think if a player is missing after every match (due to injury), somewhere we are missing a trick. Keeping the World Cup in mind, we have to play 11 matches in a row. And here the players are unable to finish a series of two or three matches. So something is missing somewhere," Shubman Gill said in the post-series press-conference in London.
Also Read: Shubman Gill Blames Bowlers For India’s ODI Series Defeat In England
Furthermore, Gill stated frequent fitness issues are disrupting India's team plans, making it difficult to stick with their preferred playing XI.
"They play one or two matches, there's a niggle and then we're forced to play a different combination which we don't think of playing. So all those things make it difficult if one morning you find out that a player has a niggle. And then it's almost like, 'do you want to take a chance?' Someone is 80 per cent fit, you're playing with five bowlers and if he bowls five overs and goes off the field, then who will you bowl? It is difficult. But somewhere as a group, we need to improve our fitness," he said.
Team India jarred with several injuries in UK
Throughout the UK tour, where India played seven T20Is (two vs Ireland & five vs England) and three ODIs against the Three Lions, the Men in Blue were hit with several injuries.
Even prior to the series, all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy was ruled out of the entire tour with a quadriceps injury after playing just two ODIs against Afghanistan. Interestingly, Reddy is seen as a backup for Hardik Pandya, but injuries to the all-rounders have forced the team management to return to Shivam Dube in the 50-over format.
Apart from that, there were some on-and-off injuries to Washington Sundar and Varun Chakaravarthy.
The most concerning thing was injuries to Jasprit Bumrah and Harshit Rana, especially the former, who had ample rest during the series against Afghanistan and the T20I leg in the UK. However, after playing just two ODI matches, he got his knee injured.
Ironically, Shubman Gill himself faced cramps during the first match as well as the third ODI, missing out on deserving centuries on both occasions.
That said, India would need Bumrah firing at 100 per cent heading towards the marquee ODI World Cup.
Inexperience bowling cost India 3rd ODI vs England
As a result of several injuries to multiple bowlers, India were forced to play an inexperienced bowling attack, comprising four young pacers - Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar and Prince Yadav, along with Axar Patel as the sole spinner, at Lord’s.
However, England took a mickey out of India’s under-cooked bowling attack, slamming 387 runs on the board in the final ODI. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli again proved their worth in the Indian cricket, but they missed out on the record chase by a whisker.
Also Read: Shubman Gill Issues Official Statement On Rohit Sharma's Retirement Plans
