Close-in catching and its importance on India's tour of Australia 

Lack of flexibility and reflexes

The second, more subtle reason could be the amount of importance given to fitness (as against cricket fitness) which might have a tendency of reducing the flexibility of the players. One of the keys to good close in fielding is sharp reflexes as anybody who has played cricket will tell you.

If you ask players of earlier eras and players today on the time they would have spent in the gym, there would be no prizes for guessing the answers. It is possible that the amount of time spent in the gyms has an over all impact on the flexibility aspect.