Slip fielding could be India's Achilles Heel in South Africa

The well known saying in cricket goes - catches win matches. India have most definitely tested the validity of this saying to the limit, and almost proved it wrong during the home season.

When England were in India to play the 5-Test series, the Indian fielders dropped plenty of catches but still registered an emphatic 4-0 win in the series. Fast forward to the current Test against Sri Lanka and once again the Indian fielders were their butterfingers best and let down quite a few catches.

As things stand at the close of play on the third day of the Test, it seems India will once again not have to rue those missed opportunities and will win the series against Sri Lanka as well.

India have not been punished for dropped catches in recent past

So do catches still win matches or can a fielding team continue to merrily drop catches and still continue to win matches?

This of course is just a rhetorical question and the answer is obvious. India got away with dropping catches against England, because on many occasions in that series England were just as wasteful as India when it came to holding onto catches.

India in all likelihood will get away with squandering opportunities against Sri Lanka because a few dropped catches here or there won't bridge the currently large gulf in quality between the two teams.

India have a far better batting and bowling line up than Sri Lanka, and over the course of five days this gulf in quality comes to the fore and is large enough to cover for the chances that Indian fielders squandered.

However, come the tour of South Africa, Indian fielders must grab every opportunity that comes their way, especially in the slips.

Dropped catches will be costly in South Africa

South Africa are themselves a top quality fielding and catching side, that unlike England won't return the favour by dropping catches. Additionally, India won't enjoy the kind of superiority in batting and bowling over South Africa, like they do against Sri Lanka. Thus, India's batting and bowling won't be able to cover for dropped catches against South Africa, like it has been able to do against Sri Lanka.

For the first time in a long while, India cricket fans can be hopeful of India competing well on an overseas tour. The batting looks strong, but India's batting has always been strong. What gives the fans reason to be a lot more optimistic about India's chances to do well on the tour to South Africa is the quality in India's seam bowling unit.

It won't be wrong to say this current seam bowling unit is perhaps the strongest India has ever had at its disposal during an overseas tour.

South African batsmen will no doubt already be working on plans on how to blunt this strong Indian bowling attack. The Indian fielders do not need to assist the South African batsmen in this task with lackluster and shoddy slip catching.

In countries like South Africa and England, where the pitches offer a lot of assistance to the seamers, caught behind is a very prominent mode of dismissal.

Indian seamers will need help from the slip fielders

If the slip catching is not upto the mark, then any bowling unit is already reduced to being half as effective. There is no point to having quality bowlers if any edges that they induce from the batsmen are grassed on a regular basis.

The bowlers can just induce an edge from the batsmen, the catch still needs to be completed by the slip fielders. If the slip fielders can't hold up their end of the bargain, then no amount of quality in the seam attack will help India in South Africa.

The Indian seam attack may be as good as the South African attack, but if India's slip cordon doesn't back up the Indian seamers by holding on to the catches, then South African bowling attack will hold a clear edge.

The upcoming tour to South Africa is one where Indian cricket fans have much to be optimistic about. The two teams are equally matched in both batting and bowling departments, and ultimately the fate of the Test series could well be settled by the quality of slip fielding.After watching India's efforts against Sri Lanka in the 3rd Test, South Africa will rightly feel that they hold the clear edge at least in that department.

India have made very rapid strides in fielding the past few years and are a match for anyone when it comes to ground fielding. India will need to be at a similar level in South Africa with their slip fielding as well.

Whichever team holds on to the catches in South Africa is likely to emerge as the winner.