 "India have been among the worst catching sides at this T20 World Cup. AFP")
India take on England in the second semifinal of the ongoing T20 World Cup on Thursday with both the sides meeting at this stage of the tournament for the third straight edition. India will hope to beat England again, as they did in the semifinal of the 2024 T20 World Cup enroute to their trophy winning campaign.
However, there is one big problem that is refusing to go away. India have been among the worst catching side in the tournament so far and their ground fielding too has left a lot to be desired.
With the knockouts coming up, a single mistake can end the tournament and this is why India will be desperate to improve their productivity in field.
Dinesh Karthik explains how India can improve fielding
Former India wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik said that fielding is a highly individual skill and the willingness to improve has to come from within each player.
“Fielding is a reflection of the mindset of the team. You can have one bad game, but if it happens too many times then something needs to improve. Feilding more often than not is the reflection of the mindset of the current team to be wanting to help their team and hence putting in that extra yard,” Karthik said on Sky Sports ahead of the second semifinal.
Adding no how someone can improve their catching, Karthik said: “Individually each person knows where I stand. If I don’t want the ball to come to me at deep square leg, you need to go to fielding coach and tell him can you give catches in such a way that I feel comfortable while fielding at deep square leg.”
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View All“So, It’s a very individualised things. It’s such a physically exhaustive thing that it cannot be done as a team. There are fast bowlers, spinners and people need different things. So more individualised it is, the better it is. It comes from within. Fielding is most selfless act on field. It needs to come from within. If that is not there, you know they don’t care that much.”
How Buttler can rediscover form, DK tells
While India’s fielding is a big worry, England’s biggest issue coming into the semifinal is the form of Jos Buttler. The star wicket-keeper batter has only scored 62 runs in seven innings at an average of less than 9.
Karthik believes that Buttler needs to trust himself and stop playing for his reputation.
“I haven’t had too many interactions (with Buttler). He is very soft spoken, lovely guy, but I never had in-depth conversation. But I would say his game is so good that he needs to trust that deep down. Sometime it feels like he is playing for the reputation…What is weighing him down? That’s the first question I will ask,” Karthik said.