‘I mean this in the kindest possible way, they have to take their catches. They can't lob three or four of them on the floor when you're trying to get 10 wickets to take a Test match’
Catches win matches — but India’s slip cordon didn’t get the memo at Headingley.
With Jasprit Bumrah crafting chances by the dozen, a spate of dropped sitters, including three by Yashasvi Jaiswal, handed England a lifeline and drew scathing remarks from Stuart Broad and Sunil Gavaskar.
Even seasoned campaigners like Ravindra Jadeja weren’t immune, dropping a sharp chance offered by Ben Duckett at gully. However, it was young Yashasvi Jaiswal who endured a particularly rough outing in the field, grassing three opportunities — one each of Duckett, Ollie Pope, and Harry Brook — all off Bumrah.
Former England pacer Stuart Broad didn't mince his words when assessing India’s fielding during a pre-day broadcast on JioCinema. Broad insisted that without sharper fielding, especially in the slips, India’s chances of truly challenging England in the rest of the five-match series look slim.
“I don't want to look too far ahead in this Indian batting lineup, but anything over 300 with Jasprit Bumrah in your bowling attack, I think you'd really fancy it,” Broad began, underlining India’s potential advantage going into Day 4.
“But, crucially, and I mean this in the kindest possible way, they have to take their catches. They can't lob three or four of them on the floor when you're trying to get 10 wickets to take a Test match,” he added.
The impact of the missed chances was significant. England’s total of 465 could have been far lower had the visitors held on — Harry Brook, who played a near-match-turning innings of 99, was dropped twice, while Duckett and Pope also received reprieves.
Broad pointed out the void left by Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in India’s slip cordon — two of the most reliable catchers in the team’s recent history — and stressed the need for others to now step up in their absence.
“That is going to be a really intriguing thing to look at throughout this series, that India's catching in the slipcord. Because Virat's gone, Rohit's gone, they were catching at 83-84 per cent,” Broad noted.
“And you can't keep throwing balls on the floor if you're going to win test matches here in England,” he concluded.
Earlier, Sunil Gavaskar had also been critical of India’s fielding standards, singling out Jaiswal for his sloppy show. With the series finely poised, India’s ability to grab their chances in the field might well determine whether they can push for a rare Test series win in England.
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