Despite fielding disaster class, India strangle NZ who are restricted for 251/7

Champions Trophy final: Usually a decent fielding side, India has been uncharacterically poor in the field during the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
In the final against New Zealand, Indian fielders dropped four catches and missed couple of run outs. Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, and Kuldeep Yadav were the fielders responsible for missed chances.
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Easy chances gone
Shubman Gill is considered a safe fielder in the deep region but the Indian vice captain let go off a simple chance in the 36th over. Glenn Phillips pulled a flat delivery from Ravindra Jadeja and despite getting in a comfortable position early on, Gill failed to hold on to the catch. The ball was dropping and dipping on him and Gill could only get his fingers to the ball.
There was a viral video of Kuldeep Yadav getting an earful from both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma after he didn’t grab a throw on the bowler’s end against Australia. Something similar happened in the 41st over when Daryl Mitchell and Michael Bracewell got in each other’s way while running a single. Jadeja tried a direct hit from backward point but it wasn’t on target. Had Kuldeep been near the stumps, it was an easy run-out chance. Both Kohli and Jadeja didn’t seem happy with him.
Shreyas is a gun fielder and turned the game against Australia when he ran out Alex Carey with a direct-hit. However, he didn’t look at his best today and dropped the dangerous Rachin Ravindra at mid-wicket. In the 8th over, Rachin decided to take on Varun only to top edge the ball. Shreyas ran and covered a dance of 21m but failed to hold on to the catch as the ball popped out after hitting his hand.
Shami the usual suspect
Indian pacer Mohammed Shami has dropped as many as three follow-up caught and bowled chances in the tournament. In the semi-final against Australia, he dropped both Travis Head and Steve Smith off his own bowling. Similarly in the final, he dropped Rachin in the 7th over. The batter chipped back to the bowler and what looked like a fairly easy chance was dropped Shami.Story continues below this ad
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma also got a chance in the 35th over when Mitchell pulled one and Rohit leapt only to throw it further in the air. It was a tough chance but added to another catch drop during the match.
Despite the fielding mishaps, Indian spinners did a brilliant job in keeping the Kiwi batters at bay as New Zealand finished with 251/7 in the 50 overs. Bracewell (53*) and Mitchell (63) scored 50s while Kuldeep and Varun took two wickets each for India.