Direct hits, sharp catches in the cordon, and athletic keeping – the best of Australia and India’s fielding from the Test series
ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-2021
Kohli leaps to his right at midwicket
Australia were under pressure at 79 for 4 in Adelaide when Cameron Green pulled a short delivery from R Ashwin. He didn’t time it, and Virat Kohli, standing at short midwicket, dived to his right and held on to the catch while still in the air. Both hands in the air, doff of the cap, it was a typical Kohli moment.Jadeja stays focused to take a skyer
Ravindra Jadeja had to move a long way to his left from mid-on to get under this mis-hit from Matthew Wade that went high up in the air, but what really made the catch hard was that Shubman Gill was also running after it from midwicket. Gill got right in Jadeja’s eyeline and even collided with him after Jadeja had taken the catch. Even while holding a hand out to signal to Gill that it was his, Jadeja never took his eyes off the ball and completed the catch to leave Australia 35 for 2 on the first morning at the MCG.Gill gets low to take one at square leg
On the first day at the MCG, debutant Shubman Gill had been positioned at square leg for the uppish flick Marnus Labuschagne plays in that direction. With Australia 134 for 4, Labuschagne middled a flick off Mohammed Siraj, but Gill got low to his right to give Siraj his first Test wicket.Paine changes direction to send back Pujara
So good was this delivery from Pat Cummins that it wrongfooted his wicketkeeper, Tim Paine. The ball was angled in to Pujara, which made Paine lean left, but it then straightened to take the outside edge. Paine had to change direction and dive full length to his right to take a low catch. He had his poor moments with the gloves in the series, but this was a sharp take.Jadeja hits the stumps with a bullet throw
No surprises that Jadeja finds himself on this list for a second time, this time for his run-out of Steven Smith in Sydney. Smith had got to 130 in the first innings. Batting with the No.11, he was trying to get a few more quick runs and dropped one into the leg side off Jasprit Bumrah. Jadeja had to sprint in from deep square leg and had just one stump to aim at as Smith came back for the second. As he so often does, Jadeja hit that one stump to end Australia’s innings on 338.Hazlewood dives and throws to dismiss Vihari
With India 142 for 3 in response to Australia’s 338, Hanuma Vihari drove Nathan Lyon to mid-off and set off for a single. Josh Hazlewood was positioned wide at mid-off, so had to move quickly to his right to stop the ball. The 6’5″ Hazlewood took two long strides, bent low to his right, and then threw the ball as he was falling over, hitting the stumps direct to find Vihari short of the crease.Labuschagne makes a smart play from short leg
Jadeja was looking for quick runs while batting with the tail and tried to steal two after being hit on the pads by Mitchell Starc. Labuschagne was standing at short leg and, realizing there was no square leg, ran back to collect the ball. He had a look round his shoulder and saw the batsmen wanted two, so slid and threw on the turn, smartly going for the non-striker’s end, to which Jasprit Bumrah was running. A direct hit found Bumrah well short.Saha dives to strangle Labuschagne down leg
After Rishabh Pant took a blow on the body while batting, Wriddhiman Saha took the gloves for the second innings in Sydney and took an athletic catch down leg. Navdeep Saini bowled one at Labuschagne’s ribs, and the ball hit the glove and went a few metres to Saha’s left. But Saha’s excellent footwork had put him in a position from where he could go for the catch, and a dive got him there.Rohit shows his safe hands in the slips
Rohit Sharma ended up with five catches at the Gabba, four at second slip, and his first of the Test was the best of them. India’s inexperienced attack needed support from their fielders, and Rohit provided that in the very first over. David Warner nicked Siraj, and the ball was dying on first slip, but Rohit dived across Pujara and took the catch inches from the ground.Green shows his reflexes at gully
Cameron Green was exceptional at gully through the series, taking five catches there in total. The best was his fourth, to dismiss Rishabh Pant in the first innings in Brisbane. Green was standing closer and finer than usual, and the ball traveled quickly to him as it came off the full face of Pant’s bat. It was head height, and Green stuck his right hand up to take it reverse cup.