Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has advised head coach Gautam Gambhir to take a tough stance, notably after the visitors suffered a defeat in the first test of India’s tour of England 2025.

The match saw several errors in the field, including dropped catches from players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, which costed the match.

Speaking to the media, Shastri said, “Dropping catches is not in his control. That’s where the team as a unit can work harder and get better.”

“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 Ravi Shastri.

“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,” he added.

India dominated England for four days, and however, missed catching opportunities and two tail-end collapses turned the tide against India at the crucial moment.

Despite the loss, Ravi Shastri lauded India’s new test captain Shubman Gill for his impressive performance, especially his century.

Several positives were in India smashing five centuries which included Yashasvi Jaiswal (101), Shubman Gill (147), KL Rahul (137) and Rishabh Pant (134 and 118).

“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,” Shastri said.

England’s impressive 371 run chase was driven by Ben Duckett’s 149, Joe Root’s composed 54* and Jamie Smith’s 44* helping the hosts defeat India in 82 overs.

England lead the side 1-0, and the second game will be played between 02 and 06 July, 2025 at EdgbastonBirmingham.