Undoubtedly, India is a superior team to Pakistan coming into the 2025 Asia Cup final. They have better batters and bowlers. But there’s a department where the Men in Green are ahead, and that too by quite a lot. Fielding, or more precisely, catching. It’s perhaps the only chink in the armour for India.
India’s catching woes in the Asia Cup
Coming into the Asia Cup final, India has dropped 12 catches in 6 matches. Bangladesh has dropped 10, Sri Lanka 6, and Pakistan is the best with just 4. This number falls to 7 drops in 5 matches if one excludes the Bangladesh match, where India shelled 5 chances.
But even 7 dropped catches isn’t good. It’s a big worry. Varun Chakaravarthy, who’s had multiple catches dropped off his bowling, didn’t excuse the fielding efforts put in by India after the Bangladesh match. “As they say, you can’t give excuses at this level,” he said outrightly. The ‘ring of fire’ (floodlights on the stadium roof) often causes trouble for fielders when it comes to taking high catches, but Chakaravarthy didn’t use it as an excuse.
What is India’s fielding coach doing? Question Amit Mishra
Former India spinner Amit Mishra agrees with this time and has questioned India’s fielding coach T. Dilip about the shoddy catching. “You should practice. What is the fielding coach doing? He should make them practice taking catches under the light,” Mishra told ANI.
He added that India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir needs to address this issue before the India vs Pakistan final. But even in the long run, with the 2026 T20 World Cup coming up, you can’t enter as one of the worst fielding units.
You are professional cricketers. You have to work hard and adjust to it. I agree that one or two dropped catches can happen in a match. But it has been happening consistently. I think Gautam Gambhir needs to focus on fielding. In T20Is, dropping one catch can prove costly, and the Indian team is dropping three to four catches. They need to focus on fielding. There should be no margin of error in the final against Pakistan. Even if there is a problem, you should find a solution to it,” he added.
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