Are India’s on-field woes due to a mindset problem? Team India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel chose to keep quiet about it, reiterating that the players are focused on working to improve that aspect heading into the T20 World Cup semi-final against England.
India are yet to play a perfect gamewith their fielding being criticized in the last few matches. During the match against West Indies at Eden Gardens, Abhishek Sharma dropped two chances at the edge of the penalty at crucial points during the West Indies innings and Tilak Varma was also dismissed. In total, India dropped 13 catches in the entire tournament, the most by a team in the competition.
England, meanwhile, have shown great efficiency on the field, with Tom Banton already taking 10 catches in the tournament, just one behind Glenn Phillips who leads the way.
In a press conference, Morkel said the fielding was one of the main points heading into the T20 World Cup and none of the players are dropping catches on purpose.
“Nobody’s going to look to drop a catch on purpose. It’s not like we don’t practice it. I mean we focus a lot on our fielding and that was one of the key points heading into the World Cup here. So the guys train and work hard on our fielding. Sometimes it’s a mindset thing? I can’t answer that.”
WHAT SHOULD INDIA DO?
In terms of improvement, Morkel said the focus should be on specifics and getting the best players into the hotspots. The Indian bowling coach said the onus will be on the players to take responsibility for entering those hot zones and do the extra bit of work.
“But yeah, for us, it’s just continuing to work hard. Really focusing on the specifics, getting certain players into hot spots in the right areas. And sometimes that’s hard to do because you’re also working against an over-pace. So that’s a responsibility that the players have to take on the field. Find the right position in the hot zones and hopefully we can work the players a little bit in those extra positions.” catches,” said Morkel.
India will face England in the second semi-final on Thursday, March 5 in Mumbai.
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Published on:
04 March 2026 15:50 IST
