Catches dropped lights to blame

The Sher-e-Bangla National stadium in Dhaka apart from being talked about its spin is also talked for its flood lights. The matches played at the venue have seen lot of catches being put down. In the four matches that have been played here 10 catches have been dropped.

Teams like India and Australia who boast of their fielders and catch taking abilities have dropped sitters and regulation catches.

Suresh Raina, who has pouched in quite a few successful catches in this tournament, blamed the lights, saying, “The lights at this ground are a bit low. You experience difficulty while fielding in positions like mid-wicket.” Yuvraj Singh, one of the better fielders in the Indian team known for his quality fielding, has dropped two catches fielding at deep mid-wicket, those of Mohammad Hafeez and Chris Gayle.

India captain MS Dhoni too admitted that there is an issue, but did not pinpoint the reason. “There is something not quite right. It’s not a problem that’s affecting just the Indian team. I don’t know whether it’s because of the surroundings that fielders stationed in the deep are having issues sighting the ball.”

Apart from Raina and Dhoni West Indies coach Ottis Gibson, who sits in the dugout, said, “There have been a lot of catches dropped at night. When I sit in the dugout and watch fielders throw the ball back at a certain height, the wicketkeeper seems to get blinded. The lights look a little low.”

To get a better idea about it

Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim was asked about it to which Rahim said,”The stands and atmosphere here make it difficult to catch the ball. It’s difficult to catch under lights in any ground in the world, but the low stands full of spectators make it difficult to catch the high balls.”

The organizers should take due care to get the issue resolved before the most important Semi final stage approaches. If such blunders happen there the event would be recalled as a flop show. As in Cricket catches win matches, lose opportunity lose the match.