"There is a tendency to lose sight of the ball for a split second": T Dilip on Dubai stadium catches

New Delhi [India], September 18 (ANI): India’s fielding has stood out in the ongoing Asia Cup, with players pulling off some breathtaking efforts against Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Despite the difficult conditions under lights, India not only held on to tough chances but also made them look easy.

Fielding coach T Dilip explained the science behind high catching in Dubai and how his players adapted to the unique challenges on their official Instagram handle.

“It’s all about how players are switched on at that particular moment and how they respond to that particular ball,” Dilip said.

“Which is very, very important considering the humidity around in Dubai and especially in T20, which is a very high-intensity game,” he added.

The coach highlighted that the Dubai venue presented specific problems compared to other grounds.

“One of the challenges we encountered, especially in the Dubai stadium (Dubai International Cricket Stadium), is that the lights are slightly different. It’s more of a ring of fire, which are on the dome basically rather than the poles, what you usually come across,” he explained.

“The challenge in the ring of fire is especially on the outfield boundary line catches. There is a tendency that you lose sight of the ball for a split second, especially when the ball is travelling through that or coming through it and another challenge, which is because of the humidity, density, the depth and perception of high catches over a period. The drop is different when compared to other places,” Dilip added.

“We have been taught throughout our life that always watch the ball in the hands and as soon as you don’t see the ball for a split second, you tend to panic,” he noted.

He revealed how India’s training sessions were customised to replicate those challenges.

“So what we try to do in practice sessions is add variable practices. What we did at boundary line catching is as soon as I hit a ball, they see the ball but for a split second, they are watching back at the rope, so that we are replicating that split second,” Dilip said.

“If you take 5-6 catches like that, then slowly the players realise that even if you lose a split second in the light, you still have a lot of time, but one other factor which differentiated our team on the ground that particular day is the speed at which they could go under the ball, which made a lot of difference. We practised so much hard enough to have the hands to work about, but your feet going to the ball near is very, very important,” he concluded.

India will face Oman in their final Group A game on Friday in Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium, which has different dynamics from Dubai. After that, they will clash against Pakistan for the Super Fours on Sunday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Team India squad for Asia Cup: Surya Kumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh. Reserve players: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal. (ANI)

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