India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel admitted they haven’t been at their best in the field, and the side has been guilty of giving away 15-20 runs more ahead of the semifinal clash against England. Abhishek Sharma dropped two relatively simple catches in the virtual quarterfinal against the West Indies and the Indian fielders will need to pull up their socks.
India has the second-worst catching efficiency in the ongoing tournament and they can’t afford to be sloppy in the semifinal and the final, if they qualify for the summit clash.
“Nobody looks to drop a catch on purpose. It’s not we don’t train, we put a lot of focus on it. At times its a mindset thing, I can’t answer that. For us it’s about working hard on it. The players need to take on responsibility on the field. Fielding is something we speak about a lot. At times we are guilty of giving away 15-20 runs and it’s one aspect we keep working hard. We are working hard on fielding and asking the guys to step up,” Morne Morkel said during the pre-match press conference.
Meanwhile, the former South African lanky fast bowler admitted that dew is always a huge factor at the Wankhede.
“Dew is always a big concern here. You can’t control the toss. At Wankhede there’s always extra bit of bounce. The ground is smaller, we will have to be present, not go too defensive,” he said.
Morkel said he is not sure how the pitch is going to play on Thursday and the final selection will be decided after looking at the track on the game day.
“The pitch has been watered. It’s still soft so difficult to read up on it right now. But if its a high scoring game we need to up our standards. Not quite sure yet how the wicket is going to play. It’s a lot hotter. It will be key to not let the wicket dry out too much. We have kept our bases covered, team selection will be decided on how the pitch is looking on game day,” Morkel added.
India will take on England in the second semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Thursday.
















