Catching, an area of concern for Karnataka

As Karnataka gear up for the quarterfinal stage of the Ranji Trophy after an authoritative 10-wicket victory over Maharashtra, it has to keep a tab on its dropped catches, a factor that has haunted the side on a regular basis.

In fact, fielding has emerged as a chink in the armor of Karnataka who have dominated the domestic circuit in recent years. Their winning march was halted only last year when the eight-time Ranji Trophy champions failed to qualify for the knockout stages. In fact, last season, the number of dropped catches for them had gone over 27.

This year, too, the dropped catches, including half-chances, have been more than 20. This year Karnataka have registered five wins, two draws, and one defeat during the league phase. They were the table toppers during the first five matches before being leapfrogged by Jharkhand.

Captain R Vinay Kumar admitted there was scope for improvement. “Overall fielding is good... sometimes we drop catches,” Vinay said. “But yes, there is always scope for improvement. We are now moving to the next level, the knockout stage, where the level is very good, and we can’t give any excuses. We have to take all the catches,” Vinay said.

Against Maharashtra, too, Karnataka had dropped four chances. In fact, this season, Karnataka have dropped seven catches in the slips and nine behind the wicket.

When pointed out that during their match against Maharashtra, the slip fielders were standing a yard behind on a pitch where the ball wasn’t carrying so much, Vinay conceded: “Sometimes, what happens is when the wicket-keeper adjusts his position, let us say if he decides to come two steps up, the slip fielders don’t follow him. We have addressed this aspect,” Vinay said.

During their four-wicket defeat to Saurashtra, Prerak Mankad was dropped on 58 by Shreyas Gopal at extra cover while Kamlesh Makwana was dropped by Robin Uthappa at first slip off Stuart Binny. Mankad went on to stroke his maiden century and stitched a century partnership for the seventh wicket with Makwana. The fact was not lost on Vinay.

“One good partnership could hurt us, we might not go to the next round. But boys are working really hard. It has to come from the mental aspect, they have to decide how many minutes they need to concentrate, at times the players are overburdened, sometimes it could be laziness. So they need to come up with plans and ideas to look into the problem. But definitely we will have a chat with the boys and ensure we will look into it,” Vinay said.
DH News Service