Ind vs Eng 1st Test: Bumrah brilliant but India’s catching isn’t matching

The young Indian team was supposed to set high fielding standards, but what we have seen over the last two days in the first Test match against England at Headingley is thoroughly disappointing.

5 catches dropped

As many as five straightforward catches were put down, three by Yashasvi Jaiswal, and one each by Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant. The bowler to suffer the most was Jasprit Bumrah. Had those chances been taken, Bumrah, who ultimately picked up a fifer, would have helped the team take a substantial lead instead of a meager six runs. One wonders how India will manage to survive in the series if they give him rest for a couple of games as part of workload management. But, that’s a topic for the future.

Yashasvi Jaiswal during the first Test vs England. He dropped three crucial catches. Pic/Getty Images

Though the Indian bowlers stuck to the task, the dropped chances meant that they lost the plot by allowing the England batsmen to take advantage of the belter of a pitch. The largesse provided by the Indian fielders ended in England being almost at par in the first innings.

Despite the cloud cover and a bit of rain, this Headingley pitch has remained superb to bat on. But one bowler, who has impressed is Bumrah, who, with better catching and some luck, could have had the home team on the back foot.

England opener Ben Duckett acknowledged that the Indian pacer is the biggest challenge for his team. “He [Bumrah] is the best bowler in the world,” Duckett said after the second day’s play. “He’s extremely hard to face. He’s good in any conditions; he’s good in India on the flattest pitches ever, and when he’s coming in down the hill at Headingley, it’s swinging both ways. I feel like we minimized the damage [against Bumrah]. It could have been a lot worse [if the chances were taken off his bowling]… He is just a world-class bowler, and you can’t let someone like him just bowl; he’s too good for that. You’ve got to still try and put him under pressure, and try to put the bad balls away,” he added.

A big concern

Currently, the issue for India is their poor catching. The amount of fielding practice, especially catching drills that the Indian players undergo at every practice session is humongous. There is no doubt that the ground fielding has improved by leaps and bounds. However, catching is a concern, especially close to the wicket. One of the reasons for poor close-in catching could be the amount of white-ball cricket that is played these days. There is hardly any close-in fielder right from the first ball and the focus of the fielders is primarily on saving runs. Though we do see some spectacular catches on the boundary, it is apparent that close catching remains a grey that this Indian team will have to work on during this long tour.

This article first appeared on Mid Day