Can a side consistently stay at the top of the game if its fielding standards continue to decline? India’s rise to the top in T20Is has coincided with a deterioration in its fielding over the past three years.
Hindustan Times
13 October, 2026, 03:30 pm
Last modified: 13 October, 2026, 03:49 pm
In the third over of the West Indies innings during the third T20I at Indore, Shimron Hetmyer slashed a delivery from fast bowler Mayank Yadav. The ball flew towards short third man and seemed to offer a routine catching opportunity. But Abhishek Sharma hesitated over whether to take the catch conventionally or go for the reverse cup. The result was another drop, an incident that neatly summed up India's catching woes in the shortest format.
Can a side consistently stay at the top of the game if its fielding standards continue to decline? India's rise to the top in T20Is has coincided with a deterioration in its fielding over the past three years.
The number of chances being missed in the shortest format is increasing at an alarming rate. In 2026, according to data provided by CricViz, India are the 11th-worst team among the 12 full members, with a catching efficiency of 74.4%, ahead of only the West Indies, who are bottom with an efficiency of 73.8%.
This year, Tilak Varma has been India's safest fielder, taking 23 catches. Despite this figure, however, he has also been guilty of dropping nine chances across 27 matches. Among India's fielders, Abhishek Sharma (57.8%) and Washington Sundar (62.5%) have recorded the lowest catching efficiencies. Ultimately, it boils down to one question: what exactly is going wrong?