Team India lost the first Test against England despite five centuries across innings. They had a poor fielding and apart from Jasprit Bumrah, no bowler could step up well. Meanwhile, Yashasvi Jaiswal alone failed to grab many catches and got quite a lot of flak due to this.
Former India captain and batting legend Sunil Gavaskar also said, “I don’t think there will be any medal given. T Dillip gives those after a match. This is what was really very, very disappointing. Yashasvi Jaiswal is a very good fielder but he hasn’t been able to hold on to anything this time.”
Meanwhile, Stuart Broad was also critical, saying, “Crucially, and I mean this in the kindest possible way, 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.”
READ HERE: Jasprit Bumrah Opens Up On Dropped Catches Against England
However, former India fielding coach R Sridhar backed Yashasvi Jaiswal.
“He’s actually an excellent gully fielder. Make no mistake. He’s had just two bad games — one in Melbourne, one here in Leeds. Otherwise, he’s been exceptional. The catches he took against Bangladesh in Kanpur were outstanding. It’s easy to sit in the commentary box and criticise, but these are challenging conditions, and for many of them, it’s their first experience of this environment,” he told Sportstar.
Sridhar, however, said that Team India’s ground fielding level was not good at all.
“The standard of ground fielding which is exhibited is not acceptable. Unlike catching, ground fielding is something which is totally in your control. You should know which ball to put your body behind, which ball to attack, which ball to play safe,” he said. “You know when to pick up the right cues, you know, based on the breeze. Wind is another big factor. As the television visuals showed, Leeds was extremely blustery and cold when we were fielding. But even then, Karun Nair took two brilliant catches, and so did KL Rahul.”
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He also urged everyone to show some patience with the Indian cricket team as it is going through a transition following the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
“Going on the first tour to England and adapting and being a good slip fielder is not an easy task. You can practice all you want, but in the match, it’s quite challenging. The conditions are very cold, so the fingers get very numb. And secondly, the Duke’s ball wobbles a lot as it comes towards you. It’s not easy to catch,” R Sridhar concluded.
