India vs England Test: Ravindra Jadeja and Sai Sudharsan combine for a fantastic tag-team catch to derail Jamie Smith

Tag-team catches near the boundary line are a treat to watch. Modern-day fielders have started to do it so frequently that it is almost the norm these days. However, such catches are still not an easy task to perform and take hours of practice, and then, it boils down to how the execution is done on the cricket field. 

 

Midway through the second session of the first Test between England and India in Leeds, the home side were in cruise control, despite losing the wickets of Ollie Pope and Ben Stokes in the morning session. Harry Brook, lucky to survive after being caught off a no-ball late on day two, was going through the gears with Jamie Smith, with neither batter looking too troubled. It forced Shubman Gill and India to go to the short-ball ploy very early after lunch. Given the nature of this surface, it didn't seem a rational plan concerning the pace of the track, but the variable bounce was probably the idea behind it. 

 

Nevertheless, England kept ticking along until Jamie Smith started to try his luck on every ball when facing the bouncer. He nearly got a faint top-edge in the 80th over of the innings, bowled by Prasidh Krishna. India went with the pacer's emotions and even tried a review, only to fail. However, Krishna had his man next ball with another short ball and after being dispatched for six earlier in the same over, this time the top edge was found. But the catch wasn't a formality at deep square leg.  

 

Ravindra Jadeja, amongst the best fielders in the world, judged the take well but realised that the momentum would get it past the ropes. Hence, as any great fielder with game awareness would do, he parried it towards the converging fine leg fielder that was Sai Sudharsan. To his credit, Jadeja parried it as a dolly to the debutant who completed the catch with ease to end a threatening 73-run partnership. What makes this moment all the more significant is that it came in the final over before the second new ball became available. 

 

With England six down, Brook now has Chris Woakes and then Brydon Carse before the proper tailenders come in. At the fall of Smith's dismissal, England still trailed by 122 runs with four wickets in hand. 'Catches win matches' is an old and cliched adage.- only time will tell how crucial this catch is in the context of the game but now, it has helped India to stay afloat. 

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