India’s former head coach Ravi Shastri has come up with harsh criticism for the poor fielding of the Indian team against Australia in the first T20I of the series. Despite scoring a massive total of 208 runs in the first innings, India failed to defend the massive total as the visitors gunned down a record total at Mohali on Tuesday, 20 September.

During a post-match chat on Star Sports, Ravi Shastri said, “If you look at all the top Indian teams over the years, there is youth and experience. I find the youth missing here and hence the fielding. If you look at the last five-six years, fielding-wise, I think this side is no match to any of the top sides when it comes to fielding. And that can hit badly in big tournaments.”

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India dropped three catches in total against Australia, out of which two were crucial of Cameron Green and Matthew Wade, both of whom played a crucial role in taking Australia over the line in a step chase. While Green was dropped on 42 and went on to make 61 off just 30 balls, Wade played a terrific knock of 45 off just 21 balls, late in the day.

Ravi Shastri also talked about the impact of fielding on the batting side which has to score additional runs to cover up the deficit caused by the fielding unit.

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Explaining it further, Ravi Shastri said, “It means that as a batting side you have to get that 15-20 runs game after game, because if you look around the field, where is brilliance? There is no Jadeja. Where is that X-factor? What I was disappointed with today was the standard of fielding. I mean, it looks sloppy and I think you need a big upping of the ante when it comes to the fielding if you have to beat big sides in big competitions.”

The series will now move to Nagpur, where the second match is scheduled to be played on 23 September.