India’s Sanju Samson drops the catch to dismiss Bangladesh’s Saif Hassan during the Asia Cup (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri )

India managed a 41-run win over Bangladesh on Wednesday, but the team’s fielding remained a major concern. The side dropped five catches in the match, bringing their tournament total to 12 missed chances, the most by any team so far in the Asia Cup. With a catching efficiency of just 67.5 per cent, India rank second-worst behind Hong Kong China. The game also marked one of the rare instances in T20Is where a single batter saw four catches dropped off them in an innings, a feat previously recorded by Jason Roy, Mohammad Hafeez, Pathum Nissanka, and now Saif Hassan. Varun acknowledged the team’s shortcomings but stressed the importance of improvement. “This team has been picked for a mission till the World Cup. We have to pick up our fielding and the fielding coach will have lots to say. Last match he didn’t say much, but after today he’ll have plenty to say,” he said. He also pointed to the challenges of playing under the “Ring of Fire” floodlights and in high humidity. “It comes into your eyesight sometimes and it’s a bit of a disturbance. We have to get used to it. But at this level, you cannot make excuses. We have to take every catch,” Varun added.

During the match, Bangladesh’s Saif Hassan was dropped four times at critical moments on scores of 40, 60, 65, and 69. Despite these opportunities, India’s spinners eventually shared seven wickets among them, with Kuldeep Yadav leading the charge with 3 for 18. Varun Chakravarthy took 2 for 29, Axar Patel 1 for 37, and part-timer Tilak Varma contributed to wrapping up the innings. Suryakumar Yadav also effected a key run-out to further restrict Bangladesh’s chase.

Dropped catches in Asia Cup 2025 by teams

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The team’s struggles under pressure highlight that, while India’s batters and bowlers have been effective, fielding improvements are essential for high-level success.