It was a below-par fielding display from Team India in the first ODI against Australia in Sydney, and Harbhajan Singh was critical of the side's performance.
Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh was critical of Team India's fielding display during the first ODI against Australia on Friday. There were a number of error in judgments -- especially on the boundary line from Indian fielders throughout the game, as Australia put on 374 on the board in 50 overs.
India eventually lost the match by 66 runs.
“Things didn’t go India’s way. I would say India played some good cricket (in Sydney) but in patches. But, yeah, the fielding was a bit sloppy, lot of misfield, lot of missed catches,” Harbhajan told India Today.
“In the international arena, you would want to take each (and every catch) that comes your way but unfortunately that didn’t happen today. If the fielders are not supporting the bowler, the bowler is going to get hurt. That’s what happened today,” Harbhajan Singh added.
The Indian bowlers were fairly expensive throughout the game as the lack of a sixth bowling option proved costly for the side. Bar Mohammed Shami (5.90), all the other bowlers had an economy rate above 6.
“I think apart from (Mohammad) Shami everyone had an off day. This was the first game and playing in Australia you got to adjust to the bounce and the conditions. What all lengths you need to bowl. So the Indian bowling line, to start with, they bowled the initial overs a bit short with the new ball,” Harbhajan said.
“Could’ve looked to bowl a little fuller for an early breakthrough, which didn’t happen, and that’s one of the reasons Australia got a lot of runs on the board which weakened India’s chances while chasing,” Harbhajan signed off.
India will now have to win the remaining two matches to clinch the three-match ODI series, before they take on the Australian side in as many T20Is from December 6.
