Former Indian fielding coach R Sridhar has shed light on India’s fielding in the recent past. Indian players have struggled in the field, which has led to the team’s downfall. Abhishek Sharma dropped Shimron Hetmyer’s catch in the previous game at Indore when the left-hander was yet to cross the 10-run mark.
Mayank Yadav dropped a sitter to give a reprieve to Sherfane Rutherford in the second game when the left-hander was on 38 runs. Rutherford went on to score a match-winning knock of 84 runs off just 37 balls.
Furthermore, there have been multiple drop catches by Indian players, which has costed the team dearly.
“We ended up winning the T20 World Cup, but still we were nowhere near being a good fielding unit in that tournament as well, Axar Patel probably just saved us from falling grace in that semi-final. So, we need to pick up our act together. I think fielding has now definitely taken a backseat in terms of application and in terms of building a certain culture. As we can see, there is a clear culture with the batting and bowling, but whereas in fielding, that seems to be absent,” R Sridhar said in a select media interaction organised by Sony Sports Network.
Sridhar reckons the rookie Indian players, who are coming in the squad, are slightly undercooked in the field.
“What is really worrying is the fact that the new kids who are coming into the squad are undercooked in their fielding ability; some are fast bowlers, some are not, some are batters, but whoever is coming in, they, so they don’t seem to be the kind of fielder a Kohli is, or even a Surya or even a Shreyas – the generation of that block, I’m saying – because they seem to have been brought up on only one skill, that’s a bit of a worrying factor, but that is not for the Indian team to worry. That is for the entire ecosystem to wake up and smell the coffee, so there’s a lot of things to be done,” he elaborated.
Sridhar said Indian players will need to adapt to New Zealand conditions for the upcoming tour.
“I think our fielders will have to adapt. As you know, we’ve had a very hot October in India this year, thanks to El Niño, the super El Niño. So there’s going to be quite a bit of adaptation there to be done by our fielders, bowlers, and batters,” R Sridhar said.
India will play five ODIs, as many T20Is, and two Test matches on the New Zealand tour.
