Rohit Sharma gets his hand to a ball near the boundary line but cannot hold on to the catch, managing to throw the ball back into the field before taking a tumble over the ropes in the 1st T20I vs West Indies in Hyderabad on Friday.
India fielders had a tumultuous time in the 1st T20I vs West Indies in Hyderabad on Friday, as the visitors raced to a total of 207/5, prompting fans and former players to question what went wrong for Team India in the first innings.
Yuvraj Singh was one of those who wondered if too much cricket was perhaps to blame for the Indian fielders looking a little jaded. “Young guns reacting a bit late,” he tweeted.
India very poor on the field today ! Young guns reacting a bit late on the ball! Too much cricket ? ? Let’s get these runs come on lads
— yuvraj singh (@YUVSTRONG12) December 6, 2019
Washington Sundar and Rohit Sharma were the two India fielders involved in the most incidents on the field. Even skipper Virat Kohli, who is like a bank on the field, was seen making a rare misfield – as the last ball of the 13th over was driven ferociously by Shimron Hetmyer, with Kohli failing to get his body behind the ball.
The first ball of the 16th over saw a piece of poor judgement by Washington Sundar, as he backed away from a mistimed pull, to find himself in no position to take a catch.
“Could it be a problem with the angle of the floodlights in Hyderabad,” wondered Sanjay Manjrekar and Harsha Bhogle in the commentary box. It was clear that Sundar had lost sight of the ball, but whether the angle of the floodlights was to blame for this is up for speculation.
Poor fielding or Hyderabad stadium has really poor flood lights setup? #IndvWI
— Vishal Mehra (@vishal_mehra1) December 6, 2019
Later in the same over, Rishabh Pant would fail to collect a routine throw from the deep, as Ravindra Jadeja dug his face in his hands.
The 16th over was the most eventful though. First, it was Sundar who again dropped a relatively simple catch. Off the second ball, Rohit Sharma almost pulled off a one-handed stunner, just managing to save a boundary by throwing the ball back inside the ropes as he tumbled over.
Almost pulled off a one handed stunner #RohitSharma pic.twitter.com/p1rdRypQTs
— Prateek. (@_FrontFootPull) December 6, 2019
Off the next ball, Rohit Sharma dropped a catch. It had been hit with force but was a much simpler opportunity than the previous ball. The ball, however, slipped through Rohit’s hands.
Normally when you have a sequence of stunning, stunning, oops by Rohit Sharma it’s when he has creamed two sixes and gotten out. This time, two unbelievable fielding saves followed by the ball popping through his hands… #INDvWI
— Saurabh Somani (@saurabh_42) December 6, 2019
There is not a single comedy special on Netflix that can compete with India’s fielding right now… #INDvsWI
— Aatif Nawaz (@AatifNawaz) December 6, 2019
West Indies batting excellent, but must be said India not up to the mark, bowing and fielding. Batsmen now have a mountain to climb
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) December 6, 2019
Rohit Sharma did manage to take the catch that finally saw the back of Shimron Hetmyer, as Yuzvendra Chahal bowled an 18th over that pulled things back somewhat in the hosts’ favour.
India need to chase 208 in 20 overs in the first match of the series in Hyderabad.
Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.
4 min read
