Former Indian fielding coach R Sridhar weighed in on Varun Chakaravarthy’s fielding lapse in the side’s virtual T20 World Cup 2026 quarterfinal clash against the West Indies in Kolkata. Despite coming out on top, the Men in Blue made several potentially costly fielding errors in the first innings.
First of those came from Varun, who blew an easy run-out chance in the third over of the innings when the West Indian openers, Shai Hope and Roston Chase, were stranded mid-pitch. The veteran threw the ball at the wrong end from the short cover region, allowing both batters to escape a horrific run-out.
When asked about Varun’s poor fielding in that moment in an interview with Revsportz, Sridhar said:
“From the outside, I can question Varun’s fielding position, but perhaps against that batter and Arshdeep Singh, it was considered a safer option compared to deep square leg, deep mid-wicket, or short fine leg. Obviously, someone as sharp as Suryakumar Yadav would not make such elementary errors in positioning the wrong fielder in the wrong place.”
He added:
“Varun is also a much-improved fielder compared to earlier, but the occasion may simply have got to him. I think Varun was in the right place. That was just a poor piece of fielding.”
The West Indies were only 13/0 when Varun messed up on the run-out. However, the spinner himself broke the opening partnership several overs later, with the score marching onto 68 in the ninth over.
“The only factor was pressure” – R Sridhar on Abhishek Sharma’s dropped catches against the West Indies
R Sridhar believes pressure was the only reason behind Abhishek Sharma’s twin dropped catches in the West Indies clash. Normally a reliable fielder, Abhishek put down two sitters off Roston Chase and Rovman Powell in the fifth and 19th overs, respectively.
“He would have taken that catch 99 times out of 100. So the only factor was pressure – the pressure of 68,000 people in the stadium and 400 million watching on television. It was a critical moment in the match. There could have been a negative thought or two while he was under the ball, waiting,” said Sridhar (via the aforementioned source).
He concluded:
“It happens to every human being, let alone cricketers. That extra bit of pressure under the ball might have worked against him. But as a coach, I would tell him: pressure is a privilege. You are feeling that pressure because you are playing for India. So enjoy it.”
Abhishek compounded his poor fielding performance with another batting failure, falling for an 11-ball 10 in India’s five-wicket win. The youngster will look to bounce back with the bat and on the field in the semifinal against England in Mumbai tonight (March 5).
Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran
