NEW DELHI: Catches win matches they say. And when the catches come when the home team is fighting to level the series after losing the first Test, the timing couldn't be better.
Add to that a brilliant run out. With a direct hit. That too of a match-winner who is the captain of the opposing team and has the reputation of taking the matches deep and his team over the line.
India captain
Rohit Sharma
and middle-order batsman
Shreyas Iyer
pulled off inspiring efforts in the field as India fought back to beat England by 106 runs on Day 4 of the second Test at
Visakhapatnam
.
Ollie Pope
, who was dismissed by a toe-crushing yorker by
Jasprit Bumrah
in the first innings, was dismissed by
Ravichandran Ashwin
in the first session thanks to a superb quick reflex catch by Rohit Sharma.
On a length angling across, Pope got back to cut and the ball fizzed off the edge towards the left of Rohit at slip. The Indian skipper hung out his left hand and plucked out a sharp catch without getting up to dismiss Pope for 23.
The reaction time was just 0.45 seconds for Rohit Sharma.
In the 53rd over of England's second innings, when Ben Foakes and his skipper tried to steal a single,
Ben Stokes
took it a little easy, perhaps thinking he will reach the crease easily. But running in from mid-wicket, Iyer threw down the stumps direct and the replay showed Stokes short of the crease.
A day after the victory, the BCCI shared a video on X in which
Team India
fielding coach T Dilip, captain Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer decode the fielding spectacles in
Vizag
.
In the video, fielding coach T Dilip talks about maintaining the momentum, intensity, energy throughout the game, while lauding both Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer.
Captain Rohit Sharma talks about his catch to dismiss Ollie Pope and hoped that he takes many more catches in the series.
Shreyas Iyer, on his part, talked about making it even-stevens with Stokes, who had taken a brilliant catch to dismiss him the Indian second innings.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:
English (US) ·