Ravi Shastri came down heavily on the Indian men’s cricket team’s lacklustre fielding during the first Test, allowing England to reduce the visitors’ lead significantly. The Indian fielders, Yashasvi Jaiswal in particular, gave lifelines to Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, and Harry Brook on Days 2 and 3, enabling England to score 465 and narrow India’s lead to just six runs. Over the course of two days, India dropped a total of six catches. Shastri expressed his disappointment at India’s performance in the field. The former India coach said the pitch remained favourable for batting and that England would be confident of chasing a target at Headingley in the fourth innings, stressing the importance of India securing a lead of over 300. Shastri feels that if India had taken their catches, they could have achieved a lead of over 150 by the end of the second innings. “I think India will be disappointed, too. England have pulled things back and this game is now on an even keel. This pitch is still good so England will fancy their chances of chasing and India know they have got to bat the day tomorrow,” Shastri was quoted as saying on Sky Sports. “They have got to get past 300 and put England under pressure. Had they held their catches, they should have had a lead of 150-plus. There is a lot of time left in this Test match and the game is even,” Shastri added. ALSO READ | ‘Sharam Kar Le’: Fans On X Slam Yashasvi Jaiswal For 3 Dropped Catches Vs England Nasser Hussain, who joined the discussion, agreed that England’s score should have been much lower, noting that India’s resilient batting during the final session on Day 3 prevented England from gaining further momentum. “I think India will be a little disappointed. They had a collapse of 7-41 in their innings and the England score should then have been a lot less,” Hussain said on Sky Sports. “That last little session tonight was vital for them in that they didn’t let England back into the game even more,” he added.