Shubman Gill’s initiation as Test captain began on a disappointing note as India suffered a five-wicket defeat to England in the series opener at Leeds.
What made the loss particularly frustrating was India’s poor fielding performance. The visitor dropped eight catches, repeatedly letting England off the hook. According to CricViz data, which began tracking fielding metrics in 2006, this was the third-highest number of dropped catches by India in a Test match.
India’s catch success rate in the match stood at a dismal 52.9%, the eighth-lowest for the team in Tests with recorded fielding data.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was responsible for four of the eight missed chances — three in the slip cordon (third slip, fourth slip, and gully), and one in the outfield.
India fielded a completely new slip cordon at Headingley, featuring KL Rahul, Gill, Karun Nair, and Jaiswal. This followed the retirement of seasoned campaigners Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and R. Ashwin, and the phasing out of Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara.
Rahane, in particular, had been a key figure in the slips for India’s spinners, especially in subcontinental conditions.
Despite Jaiswal’s lapses, the rest of the cordon held firm: Karun Nair took two catches and KL Rahul one — all from three opportunities.