Ring of fire, humidity, confidence deficit: India slay catching demons in Dubai

When the clock is turned back on the see-sawing Asia Cup final, visuals of controversy and cricket will emanate in equal proportions. Besides the repetition of geopolitical gestures that warranted disciplinary hearings in the middle of the tournament, the presentation-ceremony shambles will make for a fascinating bedtime story in cricket-crazy households. Having had their fill of spices, the kid would be apprised of the raw ingredients of the dish that India and Pakistan cooked, with dramatic collapses and remarkable turnarounds – of an ilk that only the mercurial men in green can existentialize – forming the narrative. An important fact, however, is at the risk of drowning out amid the engrossing themes. India resembled a pitcher trap on the big night in Dubai, slaying their catching demons to grab everything that came their way.

Heading into the battle royale India had dropped 12 catches in this edition, the most by any team. Eight of those came in the last two games alone, against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, who ran the favourites close in a high-scoring dead rubber. Their catching efficiency of 67.5% was the second-worst only to Hong Kong, but to their credit, India weren’t pointing fingers at the distinctive ring-of-fire floodlights which can briefly blind a fielder tracking the ball due to their lower elevation and circular placement as compared to the traditional luminescent towers.

“As they say, you can’t give excuses at this level. As a team we have to definitely start catching all those because we have qualified for the finals and we should be taking all those catches,” Varun Chakravarthy said. “But definitely if you ask me, the Ring of Fire is a little bit of a challenge. It comes in the eyesight sometimes and it’s a little bit of disturbance and we have to get acclimatized to it.”

Top-order blitzkriegs and spin-enforced demolitions powered the Indian campaign, but an occasion like the final demands a team be proficient in all three departments. The humidity in Dubai drags the ball down and makes it drop in front of the fielder yet when it mattered the most, India were able to check the remaining box that was lending an air of vulnerability to their title-winning aspirations. They were presented with eight catching opportunities and not a single ball hit the turf, denoting meteoric progress for a fielding unit that was struggling to come to terms with the unique challenges posed by the venue and the weather.