4 things England need to do to continue their winning momentum

Slip catching is one of the important areas that England needs to improve

#2 Slip Catching

"Catches win Matches," goes a saying. This saying assumes far more significance when it is against a quality side like India. England bowlers have been let down by their slip fielders on many of the occasions in this series but luckily for them, the Indian batsmen have not capitalized on many of those opportunities to hurt England.

No doubt England has been outstanding in this series but with many catches being dropped in the slip cordon, they need to realize that it affects the morale of a bowler which is quite tough to regain.

A classic example is the first test in Edgbaston. The catches of Pandya and Vijay were put down, but it didn't cost England much. Virat Kohli was dropped on 2-3 occasions when he had scored less than 50 in the first innings and he made them pay big time by scoring a fantastic 149 which brought India back into the game although the eventual result was in favour of England (On another day, it might have cost England the match).

Had Kohli been caught in any one of those three occasions, India would have been no match to England even in the first test and the series would have begun on a pitiable note for the visitors. It just goes to show the importance of slip catching, particularly in Test cricket.

Coming to the second test, it was the same old story for England, as far as slip catching is concerned. The catches of Kohli and Pandya were once again put down by the slip fielders (Buttler was the culprit.) but the only difference in this test was, both of them did not make their lives count and edged one to Buttler in the next delivery.

Ashwin was dropped by Buttler in the slips during the first innings and he helped India get to the three-figure mark. If England can sort out their slip catching woes, they will be on course to yet another convincing win against the visitors.