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India Test captain Shubman Gill has addressed fielding problems, aiming for improvement against England in the Edgbaston Test after dropping seven catches at Headingley.
Shubman Gill watches teammates train before the start of play on day 5 at Leeds (Picture credit: AP)
India Test skipper Shubman Gill has said that there have been issues with sighting the ball properly for the fielders, especially when they are standing square of the wicket, but he hopes that they will put up a better show against England in the Edgbaston Test.
India dropped as many as seven catches at Headingley, and that hurt them. Gill hoped that the worst was behind his side on the fielding front, and the cricketers could see the ball better going ahead.
Yashasvi Jaiswal himself dropped four catches across two innings, and reportedly, he won’t be seen at gully in Edgbaston.
“This is one factor that causes the ball to swing behind the wicket. You must have seen here that there are many problems in sighting the ball, especially when the fielders are standing in the square behind the wicket,” Gill said while speaking at the pre-match press conference.
“Their team and our team, when there are stands behind the wicket or there are visuals behind the wicket, sometimes the ball is in sight very late. But we all know that it is difficult to sight the ball,” Gill added.
“It is very rare that 5-7 catches are missed in very few matches. Hopefully, it will not happen in the future,” Gill said.
The evolving behaviour of Dukes, including the ball going soft 40 overs onwards, has created a major challenge for the Gill-led India in England.
The India skipper has been getting inputs from the likes of KL Rahul, his deputy Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, who have been to England several times, on how the Dukes has evolved in the last seven years.
At Headingley, India missed the services of a second spinner on Day 5 as England made short work of the 371-run target to go 1-0 up in the five-match series.
India needed their pacers to strike in the run chase, but, barring ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah, none were able to make inroads. By the time the new ball was due, the match was as good as over.
“I have spoken to some of the players who were part of the 2018-19 series, and they said the balls were slightly different in that series,” Gill said.
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