Champions Trophy 2017: Poor fielding bound to hurt India in tight games, says Geoffrey Boycott
What’s the story?
In the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2017, India played Pakistan last Sunday (June 4) which was a game filled with ample number of errors and misjudgments while the two teams were fielding. The legend from Yorkshire – Geoffrey Boycott – shared his views on the poor fielding performance of India and if it were to continue further in the tournament, could affect them in tight situations.
“The catching and ground fielding varied from the sublime to the ridiculous, and both sides were equally guilty, but India batted and bowled very well. All they need to work on are their ground fielding and catching. They have the likes of the wonderfully athletic Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, but there are a couple of camels on the field, and that may become a problem in tight matches, where a run given away, or a dropped catch, could prove priceless,” wrote the 76-year-old for the Times Group.
In case you didn’t know...
The cricketing legend, Geoffrey Boycott established himself as England’s most successful opener throughout the nation’s cricketing years and has featured in 108 tests and 36 ODI’s during his years of play.
The mega clash, battle between arch-rivals and all the buzz and hype that was floating around before the India-Pakistan game, endured a gloomy ending as there was no real competition between the two teams. India were on top of their game since the very first minute and went on to win the match by a comprehensive margin of 124 runs (D/L method).
However, the two sides competed in one aspect – fielding. Both India and Pakistan were sloppy on the field, resulting in misfields and dropped opportunities. But it proved to be more game-changing and costly for the latter than what it was for the former.
The heart of the matter
The veteran hailing from England was impressed with India’s overriding performance during the encounter, leaving aside their patchy fielding, and feels Indians have got a great start for themselves. He opined that India have certainly lived up to their ‘favourites’ tag.
The 76-year-old also claims rains could pose a threat to the tournament as showers have been forecast all over during next week and is already influencing Australia’s Champions Trophy chances.
Boycott also wrote about the Duckworth-Lewis system stating although it is an improvement with respect to the older system, it still is considerably imperfect, More the rains play their part, greater will be the dependence on DLS method.
Extra cover: ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Indian fans mock Mohammad Amir
What’s next?
Preparations are in full swing for India as they next move on to play Sri Lanka on June 8, Thursday at the Oval.
Author’s take
India come across as one of the leading fielding sides at present but the match against Pakistan tells us otherwise. Surprising to see sitters being put down and rightly pointed so, that stands to be the area where India must improve.
As far as the weather is concerned, it is going have its influence on match results and pulls the DLS method into the picture. This forces the teams to consider all the effects of the rain along with the wicket conditions.