5 best fielders the Indian cricket team has ever had

To quote a line from MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, “A good bowler will take a wicket, a good batsman will score runs in some matches, won’t score in a few, but a good fielder will save runs in every match.”

Fielding has always been a very pivotal aspect of cricket and over the years, we have seen many cricketers like Jonty Rhodes, Ricky Ponting, and Paul Collingwood become some of the finest fielders of all-time.

In Indian cricket, there have been several athletic cricketers who have delivered with bat or/and ball but have also done a marvellous job on the field. Here are the top five fielders in Indian cricket.

#5 Robin Singh

The Trinidad-born cricketer made his debut for India in 1989 but he did not become a regular in the Indian team until 1996. Singh was a handy all-rounder who could bat quickly during the slog overs and could bowl well.

However, Singh’s best attribute as a cricketer was perhaps his fielding. He was a brilliant chaser of the ball and was always athletic in the outfield. His high work rate was the reason why Robin Singh was one of the best fielders of his era. In his only Test, Singh took 5 catches and he took 33 catches in ODIs.

Following his retirement from cricket, Robin Singh has been the fielding coach of the Indian Cricket Team from 2007-2009 as well as the current batting coach of the Mumbai Indians.

He is also the coach of Barbados Tridents and has coached the Khulna Division Cricket Team in Bangladesh, Uva Cricket Team in Sri Lanka, and the USA Women’s Team.

#4. Yuvraj Singh

Yuvi has been one of India's finest fielders

One of the finest cricketers India ever had, Yuvraj Singh is a brilliant batsman and a more than handy bowler but he is also one of the most athletic fielders that India has ever seen. Fielding predominantly at point and covers, Yuvraj Singh has saved some crucial runs for India and has also taken some sensational catches throughout his career.

With 94 catches in ODIs, Yuvraj is in 6th place amongst Indians with most catches in ODIs. Some of his marvelous catches include his brilliant one-handed catch against Bangladesh in 2004 and his terrific running catch against South Africa in the 2002 Champions Trophy.

Besides taking catches, Yuvraj Singh also has a very accurate throw and has caused numerous run-outs throughout his career, perhaps the most notable one of them being his Jonty Rhodes-type run-and-throw the ball towards the stumps in the 2008 IPL which helped his team Kings XI Punjab defeat the Mumbai Indians by a run.

#3. Suresh Raina

Raina's athleticism on the field has benefitted India on numerous occasions

Suresh Raina is currently one of the best fielders in the world and with 100 catches in ODIs, he is the joint 4th highest Indian catcher in ODIs alongside Sourav Ganguly and behind Mohammad Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rahul Dravid.

Raina’s 32 catches in T20Is is the highest for any Indian and the joint 9th highest overall. Very agile on the field, Suresh Raina has taken some sensational catches for India throughout his career in addition to helping in a number of run-outs with his accurate throw.

When he was a regular in the Indian team, Raina was the backbone of the Indian fielding unit and if he makes a comeback to the team, then his presence will definitely be an asset to India’s fielding at least.

#2. Mohammed Kaif

Kaif was the best Indian fieler during his playing days for the national team

The out of favour Indian batsman has not played for the Men in Blue for more than a decade now but one cannot deny that he was one of the finest fielders in the world during his playing days and probably the best fielder India had in the limited-overs format.

Always agile on the field with the ability to take even the most difficult of diving catches, Mohammed Kaif along with Yuvraj Singh formed one of the world’s most deadliest fielding duos. Besides his agility, Kaif had an extremely accurate throw and his throw more than often found the stumps.

Kaif has taken some marvellous catches for India but one catch which any Indian Cricket fan cannot forget is his brilliant diving catch to dismiss Shoaib Malik in the first ODI of India’s Tour of Pakistan in 2004.

With Pakistan needing only 10 to win from 8 balls, Malik skied a Zaheer Khan delivery in the air and Kaif was coming in from mid-off while Badani was coming in from mid-on. Kaif caught the ball but just a second later, both players nearly collided but Kaif held on to it and Malik was gone.

#1. Eknath Solkar

Solkar's catches won India matches

Not only was Eknath Solkar India’s best fielder but also one of the most fearless fielders there will ever be as he was always fielding close to the batsman, mostly at forward short leg. Ekky took India to their first victory in England mainly through his catches.

Former England player and commentator and Solkar’s teammate at Sussex Tony Greig touted him as the “best forward short leg fielder he ever saw”. In 27 Test matches, the late Eknath Solkar took 53 catches. Solkar once said when asked about his brilliant close-range fielding: “I only watch the ball.” Indian Cricket was robbed of this gem in 2005 due to a heart-attack.