Poor fielding compounds woes for the Chargers

We often hear cricket pundits emphasize the importance of good fielding. “Catches win matches”, it is said. Well, the truth is more than that. Good catches have the tendency to change the shape of a game, nay, even a tournament. One spark of brilliance in the field can very well make the difference between a win and a loss. Whether it was Kapil Dev’s spectacular catch to dismiss Vivian Richards that eventually helped India lift the World Cup in 1983, or an easier albeit equally significant Sreesanth’s catch off Misbah-ul-Haq that handed India the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, a good exhibition of fielding has won more than just a match – it has changed tournaments. When Herschelle Gibbs had dropped a catch against Australia in the ’99 World Cup, it was said that he had dropped the World Cup for South Africa. Such is the significance of fielding in the modern game.

And yet, fielding happens to be ignored especially in India. The result being a team of extraordinary batsmen and bowlers who are not the best when it comes to restricting runs in the field. Turning the fours to threes and threes to twos may seem insignificant as such but a handful of such fielding displays can, besides lifting the team morale, reduce the target by a good amount of runs. After all, a run saved is a run scored. History bears witness to many games which were decided by an inspired fielding display.

With the advent of Twenty20 and IPL, the significance of fielding has only increased. In a game of twenty overs where each ball and each run is more precious than ever, a good fielding display can not only swing a game in a team’s favor, but it can also motivate the rest of the team into giving a more spirited performance. In a format such as T20s, no team is clearly considered favorites and it is very often the runs saved that can be decisive in the outcome, considering that the contests are more closely fought than ever.

In whatever we have seen in this edition of the IPL, it has only gone on to confirm, if it was required, the significance that fielding plays in the latest format of cricket. Deccan Chargers at the time of writing, are languishing at the bottom of the table, yet to record a win in this edition of the IPL. Besides other factors which were evident before the season began, their fielding has been a major let-down for the Hyderabad franchise. The team had struggled hard to come close to a victory against Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils in their previous two games, only for their poor fielding to save the day for the opposition.

In the game against Rajasthan Royals, a poor fielding display meant that the Chargers lost the game, failing to defend a mammoth 194 run target. It was Deja-vu against Delhi. Three dropped catches off Pietersen alone allowed him to reach his first T20 century and thereby winning the game for the Daredevils. The first of those coming when the England batsman was at 6 and had not settled at the crease. Had that been taken, the Chargers would feel that the outcome could have been very different. The Chargers’ team is one of the weaker ones in the IPL and they would do well not to worsen their position in the table with a poor effort in the field. The chances of DC making it to the play-offs are very slim already, and poor fielding certainly wouldn’t help their cause.