The biggest reason behind India’s dominance in Test cricket has been the relentless nature of their bowlers, but the importance and efficiency of the fielders tend to go unnoticed. The BCCI extended the contract of R Sridhar, who is the fielding coach of the side as, under his watch, the standards have improved drastically. Heaping praise on the general standards of Indian fielding, Sridhar said that Ravindra Jadeja was possibly the best Indian fielder of the decade.
“Jaddu’s presence on the field lifts the team’s spirits. He is someone who can keep the opposition on their toes with his fielding. He has an intimidating presence on the field,” Sridhar told reporters.
“I wouldn’t like to go very far but in the last decade or so Jadeja has been the best fielder India has had,” he further added.
Speaking about the changes, Sridhar spoke about the mindset and improved fitness – two essential elements which have ushered in this fielding revolution in Indian cricket.
“The change has been in two areas: mindset and fitness. Changing the mindset is pertaining to what the teams want to achieve, and fitness was a crucial part of that,” Sridhar said.
Despite being a very flamboyant unit in the outfield, there are concerns over the slip cordon, especially when the side travels overseas and the fielding coach is well aware of the improvements which need to be made.
“Developing a pool of players who can field at slip cordon is an area we are working on. In shorter formats, lateral movement and throwing from the deep are the areas we are focusing on as we head into the World T20 next year,” the fielding coach said.
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