IND vs AUS 2022: “Biggest mistake was dropping three catches” – Saba Karim lashes out at India's fielding 

Saba Karim has questioned the Indian cricket team’s fielding after the Men in Blue dropped three critical catches in the opening T20I against Australia on Tuesday (September 20) in Mohali.

The former selector said that the opposition batters took full advantage of their opportunities after India's big blunders on the field.

He also added that the bowling unit lacked discipline. Thus, they failed to defend 208 runs against Australia, the World T20 champions.

Speaking on India News, Karim said:

“Yuzvendra Chahal didn’t bowl well and bowled flat on a flat wicket. We need bowlers who bowl properly and on the right length, at least the yorker length. Overall, India's biggest mistake was dropping three catches, and as a result, their set batters took advantage.”

He continued:

“Another thing is that when defending a target, we must bowl with discipline in terms of length and direction, which we lacked.”

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“Our ground fielding and catching were dismal”- Saba Karim wants India to improve fielding

Karim reaffirmed that dropping catches at regular intervals was the primary reason behind the hosts' loss against Australia in Mohali on Tuesday. He said:

“Our ground fielding and catching were dismal. Every run matters; If Axar Patel had taken the catch of Cameron Green, Australia wouldn’t have been able to chase down the big target. Steve Smith also added a few runs after the catch drop.”

While Axar Patel dropped Australian opener Cameron Green when he was batting on 42 (19) in the eighth over, KL Rahul failed to hold on to a catch off Steve Smith, who was batting on 18 (13) in the ninth.

Harshal Patel, too, failed to grab Matthew Wade's catch off his own bowling in the 17th over when the southpaw was batting on 23 (14).

Chasing 209 runs, the Aussie trio ended up scoring 61 (31), 35 (24), and 45* (24), respectively. Overall, they added 60 more runs to Australia's scorecard, which took the game away from the Men in Blue.

Rohit Sharma and Co. must bounce back in a do-or-die match against the visitors on Friday (September 23) in Nagpur to keep their hopes alive of winning the T20I series.