Why a fielder in the ground gradually pulls his hands backward while catching a fast moving cricket ball?

Step-by-step solution

When a fielder pulls his hands backward while catching a fast-moving cricket ball, the time taken to bring the ball to rest is increased. Since acceleration is the rate of change of velocity ( a = v t ), increasing the time interval t decreases the magnitude of acceleration. According to Newton's second law of motion ( F = ma ), a smaller acceleration results in a smaller impact force exerted on the fielder's hands, thereby preventing injury. Therefore, the fielder pulls his hands backward to reduce the acceleratio