India Fielding Coach T. Dilip Says Rohit Sharma's Catch Of Ollie Pope At 1st Slip Was A Game-Changer

As the Indian team kept the visiting English contingent from doubling their lead in the 5-match Test series with a dominant 106-run at the ACA-VDCA stadium in Vizag, the home team fielding coach was all praise for captain Rohit Sharma for his “game-changing” first slip catch to dismiss the man of the match from the 1st Test – Ollie Pope for just 23 runs during England’s unsuccessful chase of 399 runs.

Rohit Sharma and his side made some splendid efforts on the field and perhaps seemed to be ticking all the boxes of the fielding department. The likes of Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill among others fielded quite too well and it shows the amount of intensity as well as seriousness this team has during their fielding drills.

After all, who else other than team India understands the importance of converting half-chances into wickets? They might have taken some inspiration from Travis Head’s sensational catch to dismiss Rohit Sharma in the Cricket World Cup 2023 final which proved to be the ultimate game-changing moment.

“Reaction time was very less and it was played on the backfoot, so fantastic effort from Rohit and it was a game-changing one,” Dilip said on BCCI’s latest video on X.

The Rahul Dravid-led coaching entourage might not have ended India’s ICC silverware drought in their tenure but they have maintained a positive and healthy team environment. For that, Dravid will have to majorly thank their fielding coach T Dilip who has been a key figure in doing so.

During the CWC last year, Dilip would have handed over medals to their best fielders from a particular match and it helped the players get some extra motivation which reflected in their performances as well.

India remained unbeaten till that moment in Ahmedabad where all of their hard work went in vain as Australia shushed off over a million of Indians.

Nonetheless, we are pretty much over and used to that and the aim is currently to win the Anthony de Mello Trophy against England. The visitors drew first blood but the hosts fought back in style as always.

Fielding has turned out to be one of India’s major strengths for the better parts of the last decade and it has intensified ever since Rahul Dravid took charge.

While speaking to BCCI TV, T Dilip explained the importance of remaining energetic throughout a Test game and also praised Iyer for his splendid fielding efforts.

“The game really tilted towards us because of Shreyas Iyer’s run out and the way he moved and anticipated the shot and also getting that direct hit, especially with a person like Ben Stokes.

“I think overall, I’m very happy as the fielding coach because the boys have done a fantastic job,” Dilip added.

“We Want To Be The Best Fielding Team” – Rohit Sharma Emphasizes The Importance Of Fielding

In the same video, Rohit Sharma stated that his team is determined to do well in the fielding department and claimed they want to be the best as well as smartest XI out there.

“Fielding is something we really tried ourselves, you know we want to be the best fielding team, the smarter fielding team,” Rohit Sharma said.