Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif was utterly unhappy with the way Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli let a catch go through in between them at the slips during the recent ICC WTC 2023 final between India and Australia at the Oval in London.
India was outplayed by Australia in all departments in the recently-concluded World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval, where Rohit Sharma and Co. endured a 209-run loss. Since then, the team has been severely criticized and their performance has been picked apart by experts.
One of them is Mohammad Kaif, who highlighted another area that the team needs to work on, which is slip fielding.
India let go of an easy chance at slips during Australia's second innings when an edge off Alex Carey's bat flew between Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara. The incident took place when Carey was batting for 41 and despite the ball being in both Kohli and Pujara's reach, neither of them went for the catch.
“These things must be sorted out before you take the field. You can’t miss these chances. This is being lazy. In these moments, the fielder probably thinks there won’t be catches coming to slips, and there might be a declaration on the cards. But it was a vital stage of the game when India couldn’t afford lapse,” Kaif said on Indian Express.
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He also spoke about Pujara wearing shin pads under the trousers while fielding, claiming it puts a fielder at disadvantage.
“Shin pads make your movement slow, and you can’t bend properly. I don’t believe it doesn’t affect you,” Kaif added.
A slip fielder is always in play if a match is played in English or Australian conditions, when you anticipate bounce and velocity from the surface, according to Kaif. He gave another instance from Australia's first innings in which Steve Smith had stolen the ball, but it had missed Kohli at the slips by a whisker.
“Converting half-chances can win you matches. Take a look at the half-chance that Steve Smith had offered in the first innings when the ball fell short of Kohli at slip. Australia was at 190, and if Smith had fallen then, who knows what might have happened?
In England and Australia where there is bounce on offer, slips stand almost 25 yards behind the stumps. In Asia, you stand nearer to the batter. So, someone like Kohli must know where he needs to stand so that he takes these chances. These are ways in which you can win games for your team," Kaif concluded.
