"There is no time for practice to suddenly become Jonty Rhodes" - Former RCB batter reflects on India's catching woes in Asia Cup 2025

Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Dinesh Karthik expressed his thoughts on India's catching woes in the ongoing Asia Cup 2025. The Men in Blue beat Bangladesh by 41 runs to enter the final.

However, their catching remained a cause for concern. India dropped Bangladesh batter Saif Hassan four times as he went on to score a 51-ball 69. Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, and Axar Patel all dropped Hassan's catches.

While Dinesh Karthik agreed that they had not fielded well, he reflected that the issue should be dealt with after the tournament concluded. Karthik felt that there would not be enough time to have separate fielding sessions at this stage.

Notably, India will play Sri Lanka in their last Super 4 match on Friday, September 26, and the final on Sunday, September 28.

"At some point, you lose the ball for a split second that can cause a bit of indecision. The flatter ones are very hard. That can be a bit of an issue but definitely India haven't fielded well, they are aware of it. Midway through the tournament there is not much you can do. Right now there is not much that can change. There is no time for practice to suddenly become Jonty Rhodes. You have to just let things be. Don't make it too much of an issue because they are all aware. They will come back firing. You deal with it post the tournament," he said on Cricbuzz.

Suryakumar Yadav and his men have dropped 12 catches in the Asia Cup 2025 so far, which are the most by any team in the competition. Regarded among the top fielding sides in world cricket, these are errors they will have to work on and rectify soon.

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"The method is working and very successful" - Dinesh Karthik on Indian captain's operating structure

Speaking of Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav, Dinesh Karthik reflected on the 35-year-old's structure of operation when it comes to using his bowlers. Karthik reckoned that Suryakumar kept things simple and followed the same method against Bangladesh that he has been using in this tournament so far.

"I think Surya has a very fixed structure in his mind. He starts with Hardik. Bumrah bowls three in the powerplay. Varun Chakaravarthy bowls over number five, seventh over comes Kuldeep. Then he sees if it is left-right, he sticks to Varun, if it is two right-handers he gives it to Axar Patel. He has kept it very simple. Unless they are going for plenty he does not give it to Shivam Dube," he said.

"He trusts his spinners as much as he trusts anyone else in this world. He has given them the freedom and they have delivered so far. The method is working and very successful," he added.

India's bowlers put up a commendable effort to defend 168 against Bangladesh. They bowled them out for 127 runs to win comfortably in the end. Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the lot with figures of 3/18, while Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy chipped in with two wickets apiece.