He was guilty of four out of the eight catches dropped by Indian players.
Despite the five-wicket defeat against England in the Headingley Test, India have several positives to take heading into the second match in Birmingham, starting July 2. However, the Men in Blue have to address their fielding woes, mainly in catching, especially in the slip cordon. India dropped a total of 8 catches in the match, all at critical junctures. More importantly, four of those eight catches were dropped by Yashasvi Jaiswal alone. It came as a bitter contrast to his stellar century in the first innings. Jaiswal put down Ben Duckett on 15, Ollie Pope on 60, and Harry Brook on 83 in the first innings. He dropped Duckett when he was three runs short of his century in the second innings. To make the matter worse, the 23-year-old was spotted dancing in front of the English crowd after dropping Duckett on 97, a moment that didn’t sit well with a certain section of fans and pundits.
Many criticised the youngster and were judgmental, as per their analysis of the matter. However, former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar and veteran England speedster Stuart Broad were borderline harsh with their takes on the 23-year-old batter.
Gavaskar termed India’s level of fielding ‘not Test class’, appealing to the players to work hard and urging them to ditch the optional sessions if needed. Meanwhile, Broad was more brutal, saying, “They have to take their catches. They can’t lob three or four of them on the floor when you’re trying to get 10 wickets to take a test match. I mean this in the kindest possible way.”
However, former India fielding coach R Sridhar came in the Mumbaikar’s support and took a dig at Gavaskar and Broad for their judgments, reiterating that fielding in English conditions isn’t easy.
“Adapting in English conditions and being a good slip fielder is not an cakewalk. You can practice all you want, but it’s quite challenging in the match. The conditions are very cold, so the fingers get very numb. The Duke’s ball wobbles a lot as it comes towards you. It’s not easy to catch,” Sridhar told Sportstar. The Oval or Leeds are two of the most challenging grounds. Leeds has a slope which runs down from the pavilion side to the Kirkstall Lane end. And it’s very windy, and that messes with your rhythm and depth perception. Even England dropped catches. It’s not always about ability – often, it’s about conditions.”
In another interview with RevSportz, Sridhar observed that Jaiswal has the tendency to lose confidence if he drops one catch, which affects his next efforts. He mentioned that it happened with him twice now, first in Melbourne and now in Leeds, and that is something he needs to work on. Otherwise, he remembered his excellent diving catches during Bangladesh’s tour to India, especially the Kanpur Test match for his catching at gully.
Earlier, India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah had also mentioned the slope at Headingley, claiming that it’s tricky sometimes because you start from a place up high, then it goes steep, and then you go back up.
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