The bowling coach of India Mornne Morkel claimed that there is much emphasis in the fielding department of the team. He made this comment when discussing the poor fielding of the Men in Blue on the field in the ongoing T20 world cup.
India have lost up to 13 catches during the tournament. None of the teams have lost as many catches in the marquee event this year. Abhishek Sharma missed two of the regulation opportunities in their final match with the West Indies, and Tilak Varma also missed a catching chance.
India will play England in the second semi-final in Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday, March 5. The Three Lions have been faring better as a fielding team. Tom Banton is the second-best taker in the tournament (10).
According to Morkel, the fielding was one of the main aspects the Indian players practiced in prior to the 20-team tournament. The retired South African pacer added that no player does not drop catches intentionally. Nevertheless, he declined to say whether there is any relationship between dropping catches and the mindset of the players.
“Nobody will look to drop a catch on purpose. It’s not like we don’t train it. I mean, there’s a lot of focus going into our fielding, and that was one of the key points heading into the World Cup here. So the guys do train and work hard on our fielding. At times, is it a mindset thing? I can’t answer that,” Morkel said while speaking at the pre-match press conference.
New Zealand will be watching the India-England match on Thursday closely after beating the South Africa in the first semi final. The winner of the India-England game will then have to play the Black Caps on Sunday, March 8 at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad.
While discussing areas of improvement, Morne Morkel stressed the need to focus on small details and position the best fielders in key hotspots. The 41-year-old added that players must take the initiative to cover these zones and put in the extra effort on the field.
“But yeah, for us, it’s just to keep on doing the hard work. Really focusing on specifics, getting certain players into the hotspots in the right areas. And, at times, it’s hard to do that because you’re also working against over-rate. So that’s the responsibility that the players need to take on the field. Find yourself in a position in the hot zones and to work a little bit extra. And if we can get the right players in those positions, hopefully we can take the catches.”
Morne Morkel
