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India’s fielding and catching woes ahead of World Cup
As India prepares for the ODI World Cup, fielding inefficiencies pose a risk, with 38 dropped catches in recent series. Consistency is crucial.
New Delhi: As India women fine-tune their preparations for the ODI World Cup starting on Tuesday, the batting and bowling depth may draw optimism but fielding and catching remain weaknesses that risk undermining their campaign in crunch matches.
During the recent three-match ODI series loss to Australia at home, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur mentioned at least twice that missed chances cost the team. India lost the series 1-2. Smriti Mandhana too acknowledged that fielding was an area where the players needed to put in more effort before India begin their campaign. The co-hosts face Sri Lanka in their first match at Guwahati on Tuesday.
“Australia is a great opposition to test ourselves,” Mandhana said. “It was a good series in terms of understanding our strengths and where we are lacking. There’s a lot of difference (between the teams) in fielding. It is one department where as a team we are on the rise, but we also feel there are days when we look like a (good) fielding side and there are days when we don’t.
“That’s about how we find consistency in the team in terms of fielding as a unit. Not individual brilliance, but fielding together as a team. That’s one thing which we thought we have to address before the World Cup,” she said after the series concluded.
According to CricViz, numbers from India’s last five ODI series paint a worrying picture – India have dropped 38 catches in this period, including 12 in this series against Australia, their last assignment before beginning their quest to end the wait for a first World Cup win.
India took only 16 catches and grassed 12, a catching efficiency of just 57%. Against a side like Australia, those missed chances won’t just be blemishes, but can prove to be decisive.
For instance, Phoebe Litchfield was dropped twice in the first ODI in New Chandigarh. She went on to score a match-winning 88. In the third ODI, Georgia Voll was dropped thrice. She scored 81 and helped lay the foundation for scoring 412 runs, Australia’s joint highest total. In a global tournament where margins can be wafer thin in crunch games, India can’t be this inefficient.
The fielding was relatively better in the away ODI series against England where they dropped only four catches, returning a catching efficiency of 67%. Deepti Sharma and coach Amol Muzumdar credited that to the long training camp before the series.
However, the inconsistency can hurt them. India’s catch efficiency swung from an impressive 86% against West Indies in December to a meagre 53% against Ireland in January and 66% in the Tri-series against Sri Lanka and South Africa in May. The wild fluctuations underline a lack of sustained standards.
Though they have relatively played more cricket in this period, India’s struggles stand out starkly in the global context.
Since January 2024, their catching efficiency in ODIs is just 66% – 119 catches taken against 60 dropped. Among top-tier teams, New Zealand’s catching efficiency in the period was 79%, South Africa’s 77%, Australia’s 76% and England’s 72%. Sri Lanka (69%), India (66%), Bangladesh (64%) and Pakistan (63%) were amongst the worst. For a side that can hope to compete with the best in batting and bowling, the fielding gap is glaring.
Individually, a handful of players have looked reliable in the last five ODI series. Radha Yadav – considered the best of the lot – has not been a regular in the team off late but shows immense promise. Jemimah Rodrigues leads the way with 10 catches, and a solid 77% efficiency. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (73%) and Arundhati Reddy (70%) are other safe hands.
Richa Ghosh though has just 53% efficiency – 7 drops and 8 catches. For a wicketkeeper, the margin of error is far thinner than the other fielders. With that assurance missing, the pressure on the bowlers is magnified.
The timing of this vulnerability showing up couldn’t be more critical as it signals match readiness. Opposition teams will head into the World Cup knowing that fielding is one area where they can outdo India.
While teams pride themselves on squeezing out runs and converting half-chances into wickets through sustained intensity on the field, India enter the tournament with the burden of trying to prove that they can be counted upon to not drop the Cup.
