Kapil Dev: You cannot take 20 wickets if you keep dropping catches

Ravindra Jadeja of India looks dejected after he drops a catch to get Alastair Cook of England out during Day 1 of the 3rd Investec Test match between England and India at the Ageas Bowl on July 27, 2014 in Southampton, England

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1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev has lashed out on the Indian fielders for hurting the bowlers’ and, in turn, the team’s chances of putting up a fight against England at The Rose Bowl Test match, which they lost by 266 runs.

Capitalising on the missed chance, put down by Ravindra Jadeja at slips, when he was on 15, Alastair Cook overcame an extended stretch of poor form to register scores of 95 and 70* in the two innings and help his team set up a daunting target of 445 runs, so did Ian Bell. Jos Buttler and Gary Ballance, too, benefited from the lacklustre fielding effort of the Indian players.

Pankaj Singh, the Indian fast bowler who made probably the unluckiest debut of all time – with umpiring decisions, edges and catches everything going against him, wasn’t helped by the awful fielding effort, too. If not for Ishant Sharma’s injury, Pankaj’s career could very well have ended for no mistake of his.

Kapil, referring to the agony that Pankaj had to go through, said: "Poor chap (referring to Pankaj). He was bowling for the first time in international cricket. On a flat wicket like, he bowls well enough to take the edge and you drop it. Then he doesn't get a wicket in the whole match. He bowled well in the Test, but poor chap!"

On how should India look to improve in that regard, the 55-year-old: "There is no easy fix for this.”

"You just have to keep practising, because you cannot take 20 wickets if you keep dropping catches. It becomes very difficult for bowlers. We were good in this department at Lord's. But in Southampton there were quite a few drops and on pitches like these, for our bowlers there's not much. So you cannot let these chances go away."