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.

“Yes, absolutely. If you look at the squad the first score we announced, out of that, at least 5 players didn’t play this match. So, one player is injured, you have to play a different combination. Two players (missing), a different combination. I think after every match, if a player is missing, we are missing a few tricks. If you look at the World Cup, we have played 11 matches in a row, and the players are not able to finish 2-3 matches here. We are forced to play a different combination, which we don’t think we will have to play. So, looking at all that, it is a little worrying,” Gill said.

With Bumrah missing the final ODI, India ended up taking the field with only five bowling options and paid the price as except for Axar, all the seamers ended up having an off-day. Gill then elaborated what sort of place it put him as a captain.“One day before the match, if you get to know that a player is injured, then it is almost like you want to take a chance. If a player is 80% fit, you play with 5 bowlers, and if they come out with five bowlers, who will you play with? So, all those things are difficult to think about,” he said.

Speaking of the series outcome, Gill said they were planning to try different combinations, but admitted they were not able to overcome the crunch moments. “I think we have had a pretty decent series in both the matches that we have lost. We were there in the game for the majority of it. It almost feels like we are in the game for about 80% of the game. And then the crunch moments, the moments that dictate the game, that’s where we are missing the break. And in those moments, that’s where inexperienced players obviously go (missing). If you have an experienced bowling group, batting group, that helps you a lot. And I think we need to get a little bit smarter in assessing the conditions,” he said.