Bangladesh narrowly missed their chance to secure a spot in the Asia Cup final against India last Sunday, September 28th. Instead, cricket fans are now anticipating a thrilling showdown at the Dubai International Stadium between arch-rivals India and Pakistan – a first for an Asia Cup final!
Pakistan found themselves in a precarious position at 51 for 5 when two critical catches were spilled. Nurul Hasan and Mahedi Hasan both dropped Shaheen Shah Afridi in the 12th over when he was only on one run. Afridi seized this lifeline, smashing two sixes in a quickfire 13-ball 19, which injected crucial momentum into Pakistan’s innings. Later, Parvez Hossain Emon made another costly error, dropping Mohammad Nawaz on zero. Nawaz capitalized spectacularly, scoring an impactful 25 off just 15 balls, including two sixes and a boundary.
Bangladesh coach Phil Simmons expressed his frustration, attributing their 11-run defeat and failure to chase down the 136-run target directly to these dropped catches and poor batting choices. He noted that if his team had converted those opportunities, Pakistan would have scored 43 fewer runs. “When we dropped Shaheen and Nawaz, that’s where the game changed,” Simmons remarked. “Before that, we were in control. Some of the catches maybe [had something to do with the lights] but I don’t think the ones we dropped had anything to do with the lights.”
Now, as the Asia Cup final approaches, India’s own shaky fielding performance is drawing scrutiny. The Suryakumar Yadav-led squad has dropped a staggering 12 catches across their five matches, resulting in a dismal catching efficiency of 67.5 percent. Only Hong Kong has a worse record in the tournament.
When questioned about India’s fielding struggles, spinner Varun Chakravarthy acknowledged the unique challenge posed by the Dubai International Stadium’s ‘rings of fire.’ He admitted, “You can’t give excuses at this level. As a team, we have to definitely start catching those because we will be qualifying for the finals. We should be taking these catches, but definitely, if you ask me about rings of fire, it comes in the eye, something. It is a little bit of disturbance.”
Following India’s recent victory over Pakistan, Captain Suryakumar Yadav lightened the mood by joking about the team’s fielding woes. He quipped, “The fielding coach T Dilip has emailed the boys with butter on their fingers to appear before him.” This lighthearted comment underscores the urgency for India to tighten up their fielding before the highly anticipated final.