There are no easy catches in the slips, Rahul Dravid once said. But do not try
con-soling Pankaj Singh so. He'd had a sleepless night before his debut, India's third Test
against England at Southampton's Ageas Bowl. On the morning of the Test, Sourav
Ganguly calmed his nerves while handing him the India cap. "Keep it simple and enjoy your
first day in Test cricket," Sourav told the 6' 5" Rajasthan-based pacer.
Pankaj's 13th was a delivery that had long been Alastair Cook's nemesis,
pitching short of length, seaming away and almost, as if dutifully, kissing the edge of
Cook's bat. It flew to left-handed Ravindra Jadeja at third slip, coming to his natural
catching side at a comfortable knee-height. Into his hands it went.
And instantly out.Jadeja's drop may not acquire the dramatic recall of
wicketkeeper Kiran More's off Graham Gooch at Lord's in 1990. Gooch had been on 36
when dropped; he ended his innings on 333. But it was no less inconsequential. Cook, then
on 15, had been going through a bad run with the bat, and the reprieve allowed him to prod
his way to 95, perhaps marking a durable change in fortunes. And for England, that drop
lifted the pressure India had been trying to sustain for the first hour of the Test. India lost
their momentum, the Test and a vital lead in the series too
In the series, by the time the fourth Test began, India had missed eight chances
behind the wicket. At the second Test at Lord's, Gary Ballance was batting on 28 when
neither keeper M.S. Dhoni nor first slip Shikhar Dhawan went for the catch. Ballance went
on to make a century. India eventually won the Test, but a big frailty in their fielding had been exposed.
"Wrong fielder at the wrong place," Kapil Dev says about Jadeja in the slips.
"Have you ever seen Jonty Rhodes in the slips? He may have been the greatest fielder of
our generation but ones like him, Jadeja, Yuvraj Singh and even Virat Kohli are hyper, with a
lot of body movement. While fielding in the circle or in the outfield, their instinct is to rush
and grab at the ball. This technique fails in the slips as you have to let the ball come softly
into your hands. I feel sorry for Pankaj. Maybe, if that catch had been taken, he could have picked more wickets. India would have done better.
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