Fielding efforts during the ongoing India vs England 1st Test match haven’t been at their best. While Team India bore the brunt of the fans’ frustration after dropping six catches during England’s first innings, the home side also missed two chances to dismiss Indian batters on Day 4.
However, former England pacer Stuart Broad isn’t entirely annoyed with the fielding efforts, and has explained why there could be potential dropped chances by fielders from both sides.
Stuart Broad on dropped catches:
Speaking on Sky Sports, Broad said, “I have more empathy for fielders dropping catches now that I am not playing, and they are not coming off my bowling! Headingley is a difficult viewing ground – you can lose the ball in the stands, and when the clouds are in, certain bits are a bit darker. You only have to lose sight for 0.1 of a second and you gets tense,” Broad said on Sky Sports.
“I think it can be quite a difficult place to catch, to be honest. Do you know what actually makes it harder? It’s the crowd. When it gets a bit colder, the crowd have different coloured coats on, and there’s a couple of empty seats in the stands as well, so the ball comes out a bit differently from the crowd,” the former pacer added.
Of the six chances dropped by India, half of them belonged to Yashasvi Jaiswal who gave lifelines to Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, and Harry Brook. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant and Sai Sudarshan were also found guilty of slippery fingers.
From the England camp, Harry Brook dropped the catch of KL Rahul on 58 during Day 4 while Ben Duckett had aso dropped a simple catch of Sai Sudarshan earlier in the innings.
Apart from Broad, Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah had also talked about the lost chances during a presser, stating, “Just for a second (disappointment on dropped catches), you just cannot sit and cry about it. You have to move forward with the game. I try not to take it too far in my head and forget it. A lot of them are new to the game, and for the first time, it is hard to see the ball here. Nobody is dropping catches intentionally, and it is a part and parcel of the game. They will learn from it. I do not want to create a scene and put more pressure on them, like I am kicking the ball or something.”
