"Now no one will blame Kohli, Iyer, Kishan" - Fans react as India drop 3 sitters in IND vs NEP Asia Cup 2023 match
Shreyas Iyer, Virat Kohli, and Ishan Kishan dropped three easy catches in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023 game between India and Nepal at Pallekele in Sri Lanka on Monday, September 4. The incidents took place in the first, second, and fifth overs of Nepal’s innings.
While Iyer dropped an easy catch at slips, Kohli dropped at sitter at shortish cover point. Wicketkeeper Kishan then dropped another easy catch in the leg side that went for a boundary.
In the first case, Mohammed Shami bowled outside off and Kushal Bhurtel flashed his bat hard. The batter got a fat outside edge that went straight to the first slip. Iyer moved to his right but failed to hold onto it. Shami looked absolutely disappointed.
In the second case, Mohammed Siraj bowled a pitched-up delivery outside off. Aarif Sheikh leaned and spooned it straight to the shortish cover point. Kohli failed to grab onto the catch.
In the third scenario, Shami bowled a short delivery down the leg side. Bhurtel tried to pull but failed to meet the ball with the bat. He instead got hit by the gloves, and Kishan moved to his left and failed to complete the catch despite getting gloves on it, which raised away for a boundary.
Fans on X (formerly known as Twitter) were disappointed with three drop catches. One wrote:
"3 catches down. Shreyas Iyer in slips, Virat Kohli in covers and now Ishan Kishan the wicket keeper!! Pathetic fielding!"
Here are some of the other reactions:
India opt to field against Nepal in Group A Asia Cup tie
India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first against Nepal in the Group A Asia Cup clash on Monday. The Men in Blue replaced Jasprit Bumrah with Mohammed Shami in the playing XI as the former was unavailable due to the birth of his first child.
At the toss, Rohit said:
“We are gonna bowl first. No particular reason. We batted in the last game. We want to see what the bowlers have in offer for us. I don't know about the weather. We just want to have the bowlers to have a game under their belt. One change. Bumrah is not available, we've got Shami in place for him."
The Men in Blue are coming off the back of a rain-hit game against Pakistan. Nepal, on the other hand, lost the Asia Cup opener by 238 runs against the same side.
At the time of writing, Nepal were 65/1 after 10 overs, with Aasif Sheikh and Bhim Sarki at the crease. Kushal Burtel (38 runs off 25 balls) was caught behind by Ishan Kishan off Shardul Thakur in the 10th over.
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