DIRECT HIT: India urged to continue fielding improvement ahead of Pakistan clash

JAMES COYNE AT TRENT BRIDGE: The World Cup could be decided by the team which gives away the least in the field. R Sridhar is the coach who has helped put India into the top bracket of fielding teams

If World Cup matches were decided on fielding and catching alone, then you’d expect India to beat Pakistan 99 times out of 100.

Of course, it’s not that simple. Pakistan are Pakistan, who can produce the kind of euphoric bursts with the ball – think Mohammad Amir in the Champions Trophy final – that render even the shoddiest fielding something less than pivotal.

And they will need it if they field as they did at Taunton the other day – with three dropped catches helping ease Australia to a 41-run win that makes Pakistan’s chances of qualification that much harder.

For India, the progress on that front is far more serene. They have gone from one of the most sluggish teams in world cricket to one of the slickest. Where once they had to make up for a few lazy lags by scoring extra-heavily with the bat, Virat Kohli has driven them on to win the percentages with improved nutrition and athleticism.

And for that, they have the amiable but demanding fielding coach R Sridhar to thank. Sridhar, along with batting coach Sanjay Bangar and bowling coach Bharat Arun, were brought in by Ravi Shastri in 2014 when he was appointed team director in the wake of a Test-series humiliation in England. “The support staff was my choice,” said Shastri at the time. And it could be a decision that helps win India this World Cup.

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A case in point was India’s match against Australia at The Oval on Sunday. In another era, even with 352 on the board, a less agile and alert India might have lost. That was something that Sridhar stressed when he was sent out to speak to the media after the washout against India at Trent Bridge.

“Fielding I would say is vital in every match," he explained. "We saw that at The Oval on Sunday when we played against Australia. Although we had a big total on the board we had to field out of our skins to defend that. In this World Cup, the format is so good, so every game is vital. It’s not only the next game but all games that we should go out there with our best intensity.”

Sridhar expressed himself happy with this side’s performances in the field… though not completely happy. He says they have most bases covered.

“Personally I’m very happy with the resources that we have. We have a very good slip catcher in Rohit [Sharma], then Virat [Kohli] and [Kedar] Jadhav who are very intimidating to batsmen in the 30-yard ring. To complement that we have Vijay Shankar and Hardik Pandya who are safe catchers.

“So these are all the usual suspects. But in the last game [Yuzvendra] Chahal and [Jasprit] Bumrah were also throwing themselves around, which augurs well. The best thing was the attitude: they were putting the team above themselves. I think the biggest challenge is to stay consistent. They were willing to risk injuries to save runs is a great thing to have. This is a World Cup, after all.”

One area where India do still lag slightly behind the very best fielding sides, like England and Australia, is in direct hits. Sridhar said he had his eye on the subject and is seeking improvement. What won’t help in that regard is the rain – if India are not able to get out of indoor halls and onto some grass outfields for practice.

^{Kohli has overseen a change of culture in the field}

“That’s a very good observation,” he said when asked about the ratio of direct hits. “And that’s something I have my eye on, as well. I would say one in three or one in four [hits to shies] is a good conversion rate when it comes to direct hits, in my opinion. One out of four is a good job. But in the last game we had more than 10 shies and hit only once. Some days you’ll get three out of five. It’s a practice thing.”

“We see it is an opportunity because we believe you should be throwing down the stumps because your team-mate will be backing up the throw. Only very rarely does backing up not happening. We want our fielders to create an opportunity where none exists, and then convert that opportunity.

“We all know where that attitude comes from – it comes from the captain himself [Kohli]. That is the brand of cricket we want to play. We encourage that. On a good day we’ll pull off three or four run-outs.

"And it’s also good to keep your shoulder warm by throwing. You don’t want to be trying a shy when your arm is cold.”

Sridhar credits India’s strength and conditioning coach, Basu Shanker, with enhancing the condition of some of the team’s less natural athletes, like Bumrah and Chahal.

^{India are one of world cricket's most improved fielding sides}

“This is the awareness aspect. Basu, our fitness coach, has worked a lot with them. We had enough time before this World Cup to work with Chahal and Bumrah – so that really helped. Bumrah is one of the hardest workers in terms of fitness, from where he was when he came into the side in 2016 to where he is now. The mindset of the players, combined with the increased fitness, then you chip in with the technical aspects of fielding, the awareness and anticipation, has definitely improved their fielding.”

A concern over Shikhar Dhawan’s continuing ability to contribute in the field, after Pat Cummins struck him on the thumb, could play a part in his eventual withdrawal from the World Cup, if he fails to come through a fitness test in the next fortnight. Rishabh Pant is flying over to provide cover.

“It relates to his bottom hand when he’s batting," says Sridhar. "He’s a left-hander so it’s not his dominant hand when batting.

“Throwing won't be a problem, but definitely there will be impact while fielding and catching, especially [since] he's a slip fielder – he stands in the slips in the initial phase of the innings, that can be an issue. We’ll assess him probably on the 10th-12th day. We’ll have to test him out with some lighter balls first, before the cricket ball. But that will be a challenge.”

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