‘There has not been any brilliance from India on the field’ – Ravi Shastri sheds light on Team India’s below-par fielding performance vs Australia
India‘s batting unit started off on a bright note against Australia on Tuesday with Kl Rahul getting a solid half century and Suryakumar Yadav getting back amongst the runs. He scored a wonderful 46 from 25 balls. Hardik Pandya looked in sublime form as he scored a sizzling 71 from 30 balls which allowed India to put up a massive total of 208 runs on the board.
But, for India in the end, none of it mattered, as the bowlers were inconsistent with their lines and lengths. The bowling wore a shoddy display as it seemed that Rohit Sharma was still looking for options on the field on a day when India used six bowlers.
Having said that, the big differentiating factor between the two sides was the fielding. While Australia was very athletic on the field which included a superhuman effort from Glenn Maxwell who saved 5 runs for Australia, India’s fielding effort, on the other hand, was far too casual and shambolic.
There were 3 dropped chances in the second innings when India fielded and two of those chances gave lives to Mathew Wade and Cameron Green who were the driving forces behind a wonderful Australian victory. In this regard, Ravi Shastri came down heavily on the Indian team and criticized them for their lack of effort and anticipation on the field. He said that this sort of fielding effort was unacceptable from India and it will not do then any good going forward.
“If you look at all the top Indian teams over the years, there is youth and experience. I find the youth missing here and hence the fielding. If you look at the last five-six years, fielding wise, I think this side is no match to any of the top sides when it comes to fielding. And that can hit badly in big tournaments,” Shastri said on Star Sports after the match.
“It means that as a batting side you have to get that 15-20 runs game after game, because if you look around the field, where is brilliance? There is no Jadeja. Where is that X-factor? What I was disappointed today with was the standard of fielding. I mean, it looks sloppy, and I think you need a big upping of the ante when it comes to the fielding if you have to beat big sides in big competitions,” he added.
