Asked for the reason for not including Kuldeep, Gill said: “So the matches that we played prior to this, we had seen the wickets were not offering that much to the spinners. Whenever spinners came into bowl, we felt that we kind of had to go into defensive, whenever the fast bowlers were bowling, it felt like something was happening. And that was the thought process behind not bringing in extra spinner.”

But Gill went on admit that the pitch got slower as the game progressed. “With the fast bowlers, you obviously want to create pressure and see chances get created. Maybe in hindsight, looking at the wicket, I think it got a little bit slow. When we were bowling and when Axar bhai was bowling for us, it didn’t look like the wicket would get that slow, but when they came into bowl, it did look like the wicket got a bit slower as the game went on,” Gill said.

With Bumrah not available, the pace attack included Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna and the two rookies Prince Yadav and Gurnoor Brar. But none of them managed to trouble England’s top order as Ben Duckett (141) and Jacboth Bethell (91) put on 192 for the first wicket. And Gill admitted that the inexperience with the ball showed.

“Our bowling is a little thin on experience and I think we were put under the pump in this match and didn’t respond well. We didn’t start up well in the powerplay. We gave away too many loose balls and then we were always kind of chasing the game, trying to take wickets, create something — that shouldn’t happen for us. And then the game was already kind of ahead from us and then the last few overs we gave 90 runs, that is where it all went down. It (momentum) completely shifted, we were sort of looking at maybe 340-350 at one point and then they got close to 390 (387). And chasing 390, no matter what surface you’re batting in, it’s never easy,” Gill lamented.

Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also said that not selecting Kuldeep in a lineup in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah can affect the spinner’s rhythm and confidence.

Kuldeep Yadav should be thinking of packing his bags and saying goodbye to international cricket. Today there was no Bumrah, no Washington, no Varun but Kuldeep still didn’t find a place in 11. India’s bowling attack at Lord’s is one dimensional and lacks variety. A left-arm…

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) July 19, 2026

“The only defense for not playing Kuldeep usually is that the batting finishes at number 7, wonder how it feels to have Arshdeep at number 8 today! Adding Bumrah’s absence to that, one can only feel bad for Kuldeep. Trust me, this can affect the rythm and confidence of a bowler,” he said on X.

In the absence of veterans like Kuldeep and Bumrah, Ben Duckett made mincemeat of an inexperienced Indian bowling attack with a fabulous 141 as England posted a mammoth 387 for 3, riding on a 192-run opening stand between the centurion and Jacob Bethell.

Bumrah’s absence due to an impact injury on his left knee was certainly a blow for India and that proved to be telling for the visitors. The four-pronged pace attack comprising Prasidh Krishna (2/69 in 10 overs), Arshdeep Singh (0/72 in 10 overs), Prince Yadav (1/79 on 10 overs) and Gurnoor Brar (0/97 in 10 overs), with a cumulative experience of 51 ODIs, lacked both skill and experience against an in-form batting line-up.