Former cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra today sparked a debate on Twitter after he opined that ‘India are one of the worst teams in Test cricket when it comes to slip catching’.
Chopra’s comment came after the Indian team dropped as many as four catches during their first Test match against England at the Edgbaston Cricket Stadium, which Virat Kohli and Co. lost by 31 runs.
Out of four catches, two were dropped by Shikhar Dhawan while standing at slips and the other two catches were dropped by wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik and Ajinkya Rahane, who is counted as one of India’s finest fielders.
These missed catches turned the game in favour of hosts England who are now leading the five-match series 1-0.
Chopra, who runs his web show ‘Aakash Wani’, stated that team India stands at No 8 position just ahead of Bangladesh in ‘slip catches success rate vs seam bowlers in Tests since 2015’.
According to Chopra, team India have 67 per cent success when it comes to slip catching. New Zealand is at No 1 position with 97 per cent success rate.
Watch here:
#India are one of the worst teams in Test cricket when it comes to slip catching. And, as the cliche goes, it’s costing them matches. What’s the problem in that slip cordon? That’s on today’s #AakashVani pic.twitter.com/cSiPri9Byk
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) August 7, 2018
Chopra’s tweet sparked off the debate with the majority of Indian cricket fans agreeing with him probably for the first time.
Here are a few tweets:
@imVkohli is the man having most drop catch in slip along with @mvj888 but now @SDhawan25 increasing his skill towards it to hold a record and to be listed in catch dropping list
— Extremeruler Santosh (@starboy_santosh) August 7, 2018
Akash sir I think slip me ajinkya or kohli kl rahul ya ashwin mere hisab se or aapke
— K.C Kashyap (@KCKashyap1) August 7, 2018
It’s very simple.. They keep their legs very wide which forces them to go in a locking mode.. Due to this reflex action of autonomous nervous system becomes very slow.. Resulting in dropping the catch.. Could be easy if they keep legs less wide, they can move left ryt fastly
— Jagdeep singh mann (@imJSMAAN7) August 7, 2018
How many slip catches you’ve ever caught successfully #AakashVani
— Mohit Rastogi (@MohitRastogi86) August 7, 2018
Shikar dhawan has been a culprit ..either put him away from slips or else work on his skills
— RakeshRam__ (@rakeshram1984) August 7, 2018
And after dropping every catch that smile of Dhawan is just intolerable.
— Arghya Das (@im_arghyadas) August 7, 2018
Calmness, and patience are the most common quality among best slip catchers. Look at Dravid, Smith, Mahela etc. I see none of these qualities in the likes of Dhawan. IMO Pujara is best suited for this task.
— LORD of the OVAL (@lordoftheoval) August 7, 2018
The second Test match will kick-start on August 9 at Lord’s. India would be hoping to turn the things around while England would like to dominate the Indians again.
