The latest edition of the Indian Premier League has been having some pulsating matches and thrilling finishes. Many a time what sets up these finishes that we all love about T20 is the brilliance in the field.
A flat hit whistling through is plucked out of thin air or a ball is picked up and thrown in one motion to affect a run out. This is not as easy as one might think although it has become part of the basics of the modern game.
It is these moments that stand out in our minds in thrilling matches. However, the problem is none of the Indian fielders have come close to the fielding standards set by their foreign counterparts, the likes of Pollard or A.B. de Villiers. Barring Ravindra Jadeja and a handful of other players, Indian players do not look athletic in the field. Despite every team having a fielding coach, Indian players have failed to display even the basic principles of fielding that have become the norm for the overseas players.
Face the factsWe have to face the facts. Fielding is a skill, like bowling and batting and the modern game is only emphasising its importance. One can only be a good fielder by practising it and dedicating time to it like any other aspect of cricket. However, the Indian cricket seems to lack this very culture.
The problem with Indian cricket is we don’t give enough importance to fielding at school level. Watch any state or school nets session, and one sees not much time is devoted to fielding drills. Whether it’s because of the coaches’ lack of knowledge about fielding or coaches aren’t fit enough to make players undergo fielding drills, fielding is neglected.
The majority of Indians look at it as a burden. In the 1972-73 series against MCC when one Indian player would score, take a couple of wickets but would prefer to be in the pavilion, the doyen of English journalism E.W. Swanton commented sarcastically “If this player is going to avoid fielding,why not play Vinoo Mankad? He too can score and take wickets.” And, this was 14 years after Mankad quit international cricket!
Playing other sportsFielding is part of an overall sporting culture where one is driven to be fit and then translating it in match situations. Many foreign players actively play other sports apart from cricket. This helps in the overall conditioning of the body thereby helping players produce better work on the ground.
Tiger Pataudi played hockey and rugby. When he was appointed captain of Sussex at an early age he reportedly told the team “Don’t worry about the laundry bill, I want you to dive and stop the ball. Management will take care of the bill”. He was extraordinarily brilliant at covers. Another case in point is that of one of the best fielders of his time, Eknath Solkar. In 60s, as a schoolboy, Solkar would force a senior player to give him all sorts of catches for an hour at the Hindu Gymkhana in Mumbai.
Unfortunately these are individual examples rather than the picture of Indian cricket as a whole. There are 108 state teams which take part in the BCCI-organized tournaments but not even a dozen teams have fielding coaches. Incidentally, the NCA has a fielding course for coaches!
The new director of the NCA, Brijesh Patel who himself was a very good cover fielder, must ensure that the situation is improved by ensuring that the state teams make use of the qualified fielding coaches of the NCA. India needs fielders like Pataudi, Solkar, Abid Ali, Rusi Surti and Ramnath Parkar.
Alert fielders will avoid the additional burden of scoring extra 20-30 runs that are leaked through poor fielding.
