Afghanistan's brilliance in the field a reason for their quick rise in international cricket

Fielding and especially catching is one of the most important aspects of the game of cricket. ‘Catches win you matches’ is the perfect notion which is attached to it and Afghanistan are proving it since 2017. Even if a team possesses world-class bowlers, they need a support from their fielders after only which the wickets fall. Afghanistan have some of the best spinners in the world and no wonder they are being supported by their teammates. They are the most efficient side in the ODIs since 2017 with the most number of catches taken compared to other teams.

The fast-improving Asian team has grabbed 116 catches out of 136 with a brilliant efficiency of 85.3 percent. They have beaten the top teams like England and India in this aspect as well and if the team continues to hold on to their catches and with the bowling attack they possess, soon Afghanistan will become a force to reckon with. The performance they’ve put on in the ongoing Asia Cup has been magnificent and they will definitely pull the trigger on a few teams’ World Cup campaign next year in England.

What about India?

One of the best fielding sides in the World, Team India is at the fifth position in this list as they have dropped as many as 51 catches since the start of 2017 in ODIs out of 239 which came their way with an efficiency of 78.6 percent. Australia, New Zealand and England follow Afghanistan in the charts with an efficiency of over 80 percent in the field.

However, the sides which are currently struggling ahead of the World Cup, rank lower on the list and it proves why they are finding it difficult to find their feet. Pakistan have dropped as many as eight catches in the Asia Cup and the number increases to 49 when One-Day Internationals since 2017 are considered. They are second worst only behind Windies who have created 155 chances out of which they managed to hold on to only 111 catches.

South Africa, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are the other three nations above Pakistan but even they should improve their standard with the mega event approaching fast.

Here’s the catch efficiency detail of all the teams since 2017 in ODIs:

Keep following CricTracker for more news and updates.