Dropped Catches Costing India? A Look at the Numbers
The catch efficiency of the Indian team has dropped drastically. Even in the Zimbabwe tour, the team had dropped a total of 10 catches in just three games of the series. Sunil Gavaskar also talked about the catching efficiency of the team, marking it as a concern in the near future.
The Indian team has not been able to do well in the white ball format lately. Over the last one month the team has played 3 ODIs and 10 T20Is, out of which they have only managed to secure 4 wins. While some say that the major reason for the same is issues with batting or bowling, only a few know how dropped catches have cost India the games.
In the entire UK tour, the Indian team dropped a total of 11 catches in 10 matches. While this number seems to be average, as compared to the number of chances given, it has increased drastically in the Zimbabwe tour. The Indian team went on to drop a massive total of 10 catches in just the series against Zimbabwe. This dropped the catch efficiency rate to 69.1 in the last 13 games.
Sunil Gavaskar raised a concern on this matter as he said, “It's mandatory that if a player is an average fielder, he has to be shown the door. There is simply no way a captain has to hide three or four players, hoping the ball won't go anywhere near them.”
Our Take
These dropped catches will now be a major concern for the Indian team in the upcoming games. While India was able to win the series against Zimbabwe without any issues, they should have done well with the fielding. It will be a huge task for the Indian fielding coach to work on the skills of the players and address the challenges which are being faced by the team when it comes to catching the ball.