Pant clearly had a forgettable day behind the stumps.
India's Rishabh Pant attempts to stop a ball during the first one day international cricket match of a three-match series between India and West Indies, at the M.A. Chidambaram Cricket Stadium in Chennai on December 15, 2019. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP)
India’s catching woes continued unabated as Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant grassed chances against West Indies in the third and final ODI on Sunday.
Jadeja could not hold on to a tough chance off debutant Navdeep Saini in the ninth over when Evin Lewis was batting on 12. He, however, made amends as he had Lewis caught by Saini at long on for 21.
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Pant dropped a regulation catch behind the stumps in the 25th over when the dangerous Shimron Hetmyer was batting on nine off Jadeja.
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Hetmyer could not make the most of the reprieve as he holed out to Kuldeep Yadav at fine leg off Saini for 37 in the 30th over. Pant also dropped Roston Chase off Kuldeep Yadav when the batsman was yet to open his account. Chase was eventually castled by Saini in the 32nd over. Fair to say, it was a forgettable day for Pant behind the stumps.
The catching during the ongoing ODI series and the preceding T20I series against the West Indies has failed to match the high standards India have set in recent years.
While Shreyas Iyer’s effort to dismiss Hetmyer was breathtaking in the second ODI, Chahar dropped a sitter off Nicholas Pooran and Rahul grassed Shai Hope for a duck at second slip. Although India won the tie by 107 runs to level the three-match series 1-1, skipper Virat Kohli said the catching needs to get better.
“We can’t be dropping the catches and we should be better off in this department, improve on our mistakes. You should enjoy fielding.” Kohli said after the game.
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