Former India fielding coach R Sridhar shares potential reasons for poor fielding

Catches win matches is an old adage, and the Shubman Gill-led Indian team learnt this the hard way, losing to England by five wickets at Leeds on Tuesday. A record number of catches were dropped in India’s poor start at Old Blighty. The fielding of the Indian team, particularly Yashasvi Jaiswal, who dropped four catches, has drawn sharp criticism. 

However, former India fielding coach R Sridhar, has attributed these errors to the fact that many of the players were playing a Test for the first time in England, where the weather conditions can make catching difficult.

“The boys have been working hard but many of them, including Jaiswal, are playing a Test series in England for the first time. So, we must take into consideration factors like the ground, the slope, weather etc,” Sridhar told mid-day on Wednesday.

He went on to explain the challenging weather conditions in England. “Firstly, the light at certain periods [cloudy conditions] can make things difficult. Then, the wind in England is a huge factor. It blows in circles and at times, there could be plenty of crosswinds and breeze too. Then, the [ground’s] slope also makes it difficult to take catches, especially in Leeds, where the ground is uneven and the ball will suddenly dip when it travels to the slip fielders. It’s a 100-year-old ground which has never been re-laid given its tradition. Also, the Dukes ball [used in England] wobbles a lot and takes some practice to grip. The SG ball [used in India] is comparatively easy while Kookabura [used in Australia] is the hardest of the three. When the ball wobbles, it’s not easy to catch a Dukes ball. Keeping wickets is also tough. The pitch at Leeds was dry too, so the ball simply flew off the edge of the bat. All this makes fielding and catching difficult for someone playing there for the first time. And it was not that only Jaiswal or [Ravindra] Jadeja dropped catches, even Harry Brook and [Ben] Duckett dropped sitters. Unfortunately for Jaiswal, the ball kept chasing him. He was shifted from gully to slip and then to square leg, and the ball followed him everywhere,” explained Sridhar.

Going forward, he suggested some solutions. “The support staff should introspect and look at what went wrong, whether he [Jaiswal] was a little upright while dropping that slip catch [Brook] or whether his standing position was a bit low. Once you analyse, you can set things right. Then, you rehearse, just like you do while batting for bowling. Some shadow fielding and cleaning your mind will help too. Birmingham [venue of the 2nd Test, from July 2-6] is a better ground to field, while the slope at Lord’s [3rd Test, July 10-14] can be challenging. In Manchester [4th Test, July 23-27], the pace of the wicket will be different and final the Oval [5th Test, July 31-Aug 4] is very good for slip catching,” Sridhar concluded.

Sridhar’s reasons for dropped catches

. Light can make it tricky (due to cloudy conditions)
. Wind blows in circles, there are crosswinds too
. The Dukes ball wobbles a lot so is tough to grip
. Leeds ground has an uneven slope so ball suddenly dips while travelling to the slips
. Leeds pitch was dry, so ball flew quicker off the bat

This article first appeared on Mid Day