India’s poor fielding display came under the spotlight when the men in blue lost the second t20 against West Indies by 8 wickets on Sunday.
“No total good enough with poor fielding,” where Virat Kohli’s first words when Harsha Bhogle hinted towards the fielding errors on the field in form of dropped catches. We know India as one of the fittest teams in the current scenario, but this series against the Pollard led West Indies narrates a totally different story with our heroes finding it difficult to handle the ball.
Following are a list of the chances India lost during the series due to poor catching efforts:
1) Kieron Pollard dropped by Rohit Sharma on 24 runs
2) Washington Sundar let Simmon’s catch slip when the batsman was on 5 runs
3) Pant misjudgment let Evin Lewis survive when the opener had just started.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B50btvZAbtW/
Pollard went on to score a quick 37 off 19 balls after being dropped. Simmons scored a well placed 67 runs and remained unbeaten. Evin Lewis also made a mark (40 runs) after getting a second chance.
The Windies leaked runs in form of extras and to compensate the Indians let their batsmen bat without any hint of hesitation by not claiming any catch. The only person to cheat this deal was Virat Kohli when he took a stunner to send RCB teammate Hetmeyr back to the pavilion.
The only difference between the two teams in the first t20 was Virat Kohli who played a flamboyant knock to take the home team past the target. Had it not been Kohli’s heroics, the 209 targets would’ve seemed unachievable for the untested batting lineup. The reason West Indies cruised passed the 200 run mark was again poor fielding (more than bowling).
There was a series of tweets on Twitter that sounded funny and criticizing post such a disappointing show. Players, analysts, and fans did make a point by providing various analogies to explain this phenomenon of misfields.
A headline compared the fielders to be sleepy like Ravi Shastri during matches whereas other headlines highlighted how Kohli shunned the fans who chanted Dhoni’s name after Pant dropped a catch.
Yuvraj Singh took on to Twitter to slam the faulty fielding through a tweet that read :
India very poor on the field today ! Young guns reacting a bit late on the ball! Too much cricket ? ? Let’s get these runs come on lads
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) December 6, 2019
Memes had to come up to describe such a horrific performance in a more humourous manner
Ravi Shastri Showing Virat’s Catch To Washington Sundar.#INDvWI pic.twitter.com/dcQ5Gc1ZZA
— Abhishek Maurya (@abhishekkkkk30) December 8, 2019
Sundar spills one again and Kohli doesn’t know what to do with him. Hetmyer came down the wicket and played a lofty drive. Sundar, running at full pace but fails to hold on. Rohit Sharma backs him up to save the boundary. Later Sharma drops a couple and Pollard is looking good.
— Wes Kretchmer (@wescrihmer) December 6, 2019
The list is getting longer and longer, it’s Deepak Chahar now with miss field, ball went for a boundary. #INDvWI
— Shrutika Gaekwad (@Shrutika_45_) December 6, 2019
India’s grand scheme of experiments before the WT20 going swimmingly well. Haven’t seen a shittier fielding side and a toothless Indian bowling attack.#INDvWI
— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) December 8, 2019
The one & only Review has been wasted! Imact outside off, it was taken on the very last moment!
Fielding issue continues for #India again!#INDvWI #WIvIND #INDvsWI #WIvsIND pic.twitter.com/QmQ57TYd8f— BlueCap ?? (@IndianzCricket) December 8, 2019
The one & only Review has been wasted! Imact outside off, it was taken on the very last moment!
Fielding issue continues for #India again!#INDvWI #WIvIND #INDvsWI #WIvsIND pic.twitter.com/QmQ57TYd8f— BlueCap ?? (@IndianzCricket) December 8, 2019
https://twitter.com/sixthumpire/status/1203704032360951808
Watching India’s Fielding : pic.twitter.com/KBwhHaot73
— Abhilekh (@Satirical_saint) December 8, 2019
India are no by means a bad fielding side (we all know that now) but they have just been fielding badly for a while now in this format. It would annoy Kohli no end, I’d assume, because it’s one of those controllables he keeps talking about. #INDvWI
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) December 8, 2019
Calling India’s fielding in this series atrocious would be an understatement. Begs the question – what is exactly is the fielding coach doing other than having drinks with the head coach? #INDvWI
— महादादा (@mahadada) December 8, 2019