Indian fielding: The great line of defence

The current Indian side comprising of Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma

Seeing cricket from a technical point of view, fielding remains the crucial difference between a normal team and an extraordinary team.

All the teams are capable of scoring big runs with the bat and picking up wickets with the ball. But when it comes to fielding, only few teams are considered as heavyweights. Fielding is arguably the most important aspect of the game. Fielding is an art that comes naturally to a fielder.

Over the years, teams like South Africa and Australia have managed to produce some amazing talents in the field. For Indians, it is a rarity.

In the past, fielding was not considered Indians’ cup of tea. Though India didn’t produce any quality fielders along the lines of Jonty Rhodes and Ricky Ponting, they have managed to produce quite a few fielders who could turn the game on its head with their agility on the park.

It all began in the Patudi era where Mansoor Ali Khan Patudi and Eknath Solkar set themselves as the role models in fielding for the future generation.

Solkar, who passed away in 2005, is considered as the greatest fielder India has ever produced. He was renowned for his outstanding close catching as he made the short leg and silly point positions his own.

On the other hand, Nawab Patudi was the first man who showed the importance of fielding to the Indians. He was also given the nickname “Tiger” because of his heroics in the field.

After their time in the top flight of cricket, it was Mohammad Azharuddin who carried the Indian fielding on his shoulders. He was a brilliant slip fielder who was also brilliant in slips. He was well known for his anticipation in the field and had effected many run outs with his back flip throws.

One of India’s most acrobatic fielders – Mohammed Kaif

When the Indian fielding deteriorated in the late 1990s, Robin Singh arrived to the scene. Considered as an all rounder, he was believed to have made it to the Indian side for his fielding skills.

He was an acrobatic fielder who threw strong and accurate throws from the outfield. He along with tainted Ajay Jadeja formed a formidable partnership in the offside field especially in the backward point region.

Then came the next era when Mohammed Kaif, along with Yuvraj Singh, redefined India’s fielding culture under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly.

Both were master class in pulling off acrobatic catches and had a great eye for run outs. Yuvraj made the backward point fielding position his own with some spectacular performances.

At a point of time, many would have felt that India can’t field a better fielding side without Yuvraj and Kaif. It was the time when Mahendra Singh Dhoni took over the captaincy and opted for some young blood in the team.

He has been very particular about his fielders in the field as he wanted to make this current Indian team the best fielding side in the world. He publicly made remarks about the seniors in the side (Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir) by describing them as slow fielders.

Yuvraj Singh is out to prove a point

It is when the Indian fielding baton changed hands to the likes of Kohlis and Rainas. The current Indian side is considered the best fielding side at the moment. Just imagine the packed offside field that has Yuvraj Singh at backward point, Rohit Sharma at cover point, Virat Kohli at covers, Shikhar Dhawan at mid-off. Even a single is very tough to take.

The side also has Suresh Raina at slips and Ravindra Jadeja at square leg. MS Dhoni even transformed the slowest fielder of this current Indian team, R Ashwin as one of the finest slip fielder at the moment.

The current team is very hungry for glory and players do not hesitate to throw their body to save runs as well as taking some spectacular catches.

Yuvraj Singh is back in the Indian squad for the ODI series against Australia with a new avatar in which he is much fitter and thinner courtesy some training sessions in France.

With Yuvi back in the fold, the opposition batsmen have to be careful and think twice before playing a ball in the air or before taking a single.

There is a phrase “Catches Wins You Matches”. It should be slightly modified because “not only catches, but also some good and acrobatic ground fielding wins you matches”.

India’s ODI against Pakistan at Ferozeshah Kotla, New Delhi in January 2013 and India’s performances in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy are some prime examples for the above claim.

Now there are a cluster of good fielders in the domestic circuit. This should make the team management happy as the team has some depth in fielding too.

India, once considered as pushovers in fielding department have earned the title of “the best fielding side” in the world at the moment.

With India’s Gen Next – Manoj Tiwary, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Murali Vijay and Unmukt Chand waiting in the wings, the stage is set for the fast and furious Indian fielding unit to pull their socks up, dominate the oppositions and win many laurels for India.