Despite dominant batting in the first Test match vs England, India crumbled to a five-wicket defeat on Wednesday. The first innings saw Yashasvi Jaiswal (101), skipper Shubman Gill (147) and Rishabh Pant (134) get tons. Then in the second innings, KL Rahul (137) got a century, and Pant once again responded with another ton, smacking 118 runs.
But it wasn’t enough as England chased down the target of 371 runs with ease, and won the match on Day 5, with 84 balls to spare. Dropped catches were a constant in the first Test match as Indian fielders failed to capitalise on some easy chances. Jaiswal has been pushed into the scanner due to his poor fielding, and dropped four catches in the match in massive moments.
In the first innings, Jaiswal was guilty of handing lifelines to Ollie Pope, Ben Duckett and Harry Brook. Then in the second innings, he dropped Duckett once again, when he was on 97.
Mohammad Kaif passes his verdict
Posting a video on X, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif, considered to be one of the best fielders in cricket history, weighed in on Jaiswal’s dropped catches, and defended the young opener with his analysis.
“Why is Yashasvi Jaiswal dropping catches? We are practicing with Duke’s ball, and when we get hurt, we put a strap. In such a situation, the fingers are stuck and there is no free movement. You can’t hold onto the catch because the strap becomes a sponge. The ball bounces off it, so that’s the drawback. The natural connection with the ball shouldn’t be lost,” he said.
Jaiswal’s dropped catches in the first innings also proved to be costly, as Pope got a ton, smacking 106 runs off 137 balls. Meanwhile, Brook (99) narrowly missed out on a century and Duckett (62) got a half-century. In the second innings, Duckett (149) went on to get a match-winning hundred.