Former Australian wicket-keeper bat Brad Haddin reckons it is imperative for India to improve their catching in the field after the opening Test against England. The visitors suffered a five-wicket loss at Leeds, Headingley after they dropped a total of eight catches.
The Indian fielders could not grab their chances and it led to their downfall. England opener Ben Duckett received three lives whereas Ollie Pope, and Harry Brook also received extra opportunities and they made India pay.
It could have been a different story altogether if India had grabbed their chances with both hands but it wasn’t to be the case.
Brad Haddin said on LisTNR podcast, “Every great team, no matter what year you’re playing, the one stand out feature they’ve always had is that they’ve been a great fielding team. And I think that is one legacy Gill has start to leave now on this team. He needs an attitude adjustment.”
“If you want to field well and compete the whole time, it’s only attitude. You can do all your technical work off the field and have as many coaches as anyone, but it won’t matter. Even in the IPL this year, the catching was horrible. And that could be a byproduct.”
On the other hand, India suffered two batting collapses, losing the last seven wickets for 41 runs in the first innings and the visitors lost 6-31 in the second dig.
“What hasn’t happened for the first time is India’s batting collapse. There’s a lot of pressure on that top order. If you get through them, they will run through the remaining,” said Haddin (via the aforementioned source).
The second Test match between India and England will be played at Edgbaston, Birmingham from July 2nd onwards.
