You stand for years in the slip cordon and pluck innumerable catches but in no way you are immune to the occasional boo-boo. Be careful! It could happen to you in a final and the match might literally slip away from your hands.
This thought causes trepidation and the only way to combat it is to indulge in innumerable hours of meticulous training. You could still commit the odd mistake but there’s nothing like the calm, easy feeling imparted by confidence.
In Rahul Dravid’s case, that fear had been driven away a long time ago and now it just looks on disconsolately from distance as he continues to put in the hard yards at training sessions.
The unlikely figure of Paddy Upton, the Rajasthan Royals head coach, helped the skipper regain the renowned sharpness of his reflexes while leading the fielding drills on the team’s first day of training at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground on Thursday.
For once, the batting and bowling sessions were a sideshow to the developments beyond the nets as Upton’s charges worked hard on their catching skills in the outfield.
The wicketkeepers, Kusal Perera and Shreevats Goswami, had a separate segment too.
Contrastingly, the batsmen and bowlers preferred to engage in a light workout with S. Sreesanth conspicuously delivering slow medium-pacers.
Fidel Edwards was quicker and yet produced only a hint of the pace he can generate consistently.
Interestingly, the demands of Twenty20 cricket weren’t lost on anyone as the bowlers willingly spent considerable time at the batting crease.
Fresh from earning a Cricket Australia central contract, James Faulkner worked hard too with special focus on his batting.
However, the all-rounder’s compatriots — Shaun Tait and Shane Watson — were missing. Tait arrived in the city later in the day while Watson is expected to reach India on Friday.
Watson, though, remains doubtful for RR’s opener against Delhi Daredevils on Saturday.
