Sridhar concedes downward curve in Indian fielding, points out lack of practice time

Auckland: India’s fielding hasn’t been particularly good in the ongoing series against New Zealand, coach R Sridhar said on Friday but refused to blame tight schedules for the “downward curve” despite conceding that hectic traveling is affecting the side’s practice plans.

Sridhar said that India’s fielding has at best average in the last four months. He said that fatigue could be a contributing factor to losses during this time period, including the one in the first ODI against New Zealand at Hamilton on Wednesday.

“The West Indies series at home was somewhere we really dropped. We were average, to say the least. But definitely we have not lived to the standards as we did in the world cup or even in the build-up to the World Cup in the last couple years,” said Sridhar on the eve of the second ODI here.

Sridhar said that they have accounted for the downturn in fielding standards by a grading system privy to the support staff. He said the team management keeps a sharp eye on the workloads and practice schedules of all players.

“We keep reminding the players about attention to basic detail. In a T20 game, each fielder has to be his own captain. He need not wait for the captain to move him or the bowler to move him in a certain direction or to a certain position,” he said.

“We try and tell them to think ahead of the game, you as a fielder captain yourself, see which way the breeze is, which way the batsman’s tendencies to hit are, what’s the bowler’s plan and position accordingly.

“So we empower the fielders so that they can become their own captain and they can take decisions on their own because the captain has got too much on his plate at certain times. That’s what we speak about,” he added.

Speaking about workload management, Sridhar said the current fitness levels of the players are so good that they are able to adapt pretty quickly.

“We do monitor their workloads. We will be lying to ourselves if we say no, they are fresh as a daisy every time they go on to the park. They are not, because they are traveling and playing games,” he said.

“But the current fitness levels of this team are really good so that in turn helps to recover from the workload and fatigue quickly and be fit in the park. But we do keep that in mind but I don’t blame fatigue for the down curve,” he added.

Despite the downturn in fielding form, there have been moments of individual brilliance in every match or series. Virat Kohli has affected two stupendous run outs, one with a nearly blind throw at Wellington (Colin Munro), and then at Hamilton (Henry Nicholls).

“The kind of intensity he brings on to the field, I always say to the younger boys who come, he is a ready-made template for you to copy. Watch him, see what he does,” Sridhar said.