Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has offered crucial advice to incumbent Gautam Gambhir on how he can help the team make a comeback after a stinging defeat in the first Test against England at Headingley.

The visitors lost the match despite having five centuries and a five-wicket haul in their kitty. They also set England a massive target of 371, but that was chased down with some comfort on the final day as Indian bowlers were guilty of constantly losing their line and lengths and fielders dropped multiple catches.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Shastri reflected on India’s loss and said that the team needs more fight from the lower-order.

Notably, the tourists were not able to cross the 500-run mark even once, although skipper Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant scored centuries in the first innings while the wicketkeeper-batter slammed another hundred in the second essay along with KL Rahul.

“This will be a tough pill for India to swallow. You don’t get in positions like this very often, and blow it from there. They had a chance to take England out of the contest and dictate terms. They have to learn and they need more bottle from the tail, for them to be stubborn and put a price tag on their wicket,” Shastri stated.

India were bundled out for 471 in the first innings despite being 430/4 at one stage. Similarly, in the second essay, they lost their last six wickets for just 77 runs to be bowled out for 364.

“I think (there is) a big role of the coaching staff. 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 added.

India spilled as many as seven catches in the match, with Yashasvi Jaiswal dropping four of them. While dropping catches are not in the captain’s or coach’s control, Shastri said they need to work harder on that aspect of the game. He also advised Gambhir to be more stern in the dressing room.

“Dropping catches is not in his control. That’s where the team as a unit can work harder and get better. 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.

“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,” Shastri remarked.

The two teams will now meet in the second Test match at Edgbaston from July 2.