India Vs Australia, 1st Test: Poor catching from Indian fielders give Marnus Labuschagne breathers

First wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha failed to grab a sharp edge from Labuschagne behind the wickets when the batsman wasn’t off the mark. Later, Jasprit Bumrah put down a sitter in the deep when the right-handed batsman, at 12, pulled Mohammed Shami. Bumrah’s error in judgement near the boundary rope cost India badly as he failed to catch it. It was a regulation catch near the boundary which the pacer failed to judge.

Bumrah drops Labuschagne on 12 ????pic.twitter.com/j9qttiZaIj

— ICC (@ICC) December 18, 2020

Later Prithvi Shaw – who had a forgettable outing with the bat after being dismissed for a duck – did another blunder when he put down a sitter at midwicket when Labuschagne was batting on 21. It was a well-directed bouncer from Bumrah which caught the batsman by surprise and all he could do was attempt a pull shot. Shaw tried stepping backwards to hold on to the catch but the ball bounced off his hands.

Dropped, again!

Luck is with Marnus Labuschagne ????pic.twitter.com/RseThp7IF5

— ICC (@ICC) December 18, 2020

Bumrah – who opened the bowling for India – dismissed both Australian openers Matthew Wade and Joe Burns and helped his team reach dinner on Day 2 with increased confidence.

Can every catch in the outfield please just go to Ajinkya Rahane somehow.. #AUSvIND

— Raunak Kapoor (@RaunakRK) December 18, 2020

Later in the day, captain Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane tried to raise the standard of fielding by taking some good catches. While it was a bread and butter catch for Rahane at slip which sent Steve Smith home, Kohli took a blinder of a catch at square-leg.

Earlier in the day, India’s first innings folded for 244 runs after Kohli elected to bat first on day 1. Captain Kohli was the top-scorer for the tourists as he scored 74 before getting run-out.

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