India’s fielding coach R. Sridhar said the last-ball six by Dinesh Karthik against Bangladesh in the final of the Nidahas Cup tri-series recently was the perfect icing on the cherry, not just the cake, for what has been a truly fantastic season.
“Honestly, we all knew DK is a batsman who can play strokes 360 degrees. We were confident that he would hit a four to take the issue into the super over and in fact, thinking who should bat. But that six was incredible and he deserves all the accolades pouring in for that incredible innings,” Sridhar said.
“DK ensured a grand finale to a great season in which we created history, beating every team at its home with the ODI series victory in South Africa being historic. Losing the Test series was a blip but not disgraceful.”
“This is the best Indian ODI team in fielding. It is not just because of my contribution. Thanks to the collective effort of head coach Ravi Shastri, Bharat Arun and the captain Virat Kohli,” said Sridhar in an exclusive chat with The Hindu here on Wednesday.
“When it comes to Ravi, he is an institution. He’s got too many aces up his sleeve. The kind of inputs he comes up with is really great. He’s got so many ideas and I have a feeling we will see many more in the coming series. He is always a thinking brain,” said Sridhar about Shastri.
“When it comes to Arun, I can humbly say that I am what I am because of him. He has been my mentor since 2007 and is one of the best in man-management skills. A team man to the core.”
About he he goes about his job, Sridhar said: “We keep evaluating each player’s fielding skills and I key in every move of the player. In fact, Ravi starts off the team meetings saying the 11 best fielders will form the playing eleven. Each one should give more than 100% and nothing less. There is no compromise in this regard,” Sridhar said.
He added the biggest challenge will be in England when it comes to taking low catches in the slips. “We have devised new ways and means to be successful in this department and we are sure our team will be the team to watch out even in this aspect too.”
“We look at it this way. Right now, we take six out of 10 catches. The world standard is seven out of 10. So, we are targeting eight out of 10 and we are pretty sure of achieving this soon.”
“This is exactly the reason why you see pacers like Bhuvi, Bumrah and even Shardul being vastly improved fielders. This is a huge plus for Indian cricket. Yes, someone like Chahal needs to improve a lot and we have told him already about this,” Sridhar said.
He added his dream is to be part of the 2019 World Cup winning squad.
Comparing the fielding in the slip cordon to those during the days of Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag, and Ganguly, Sridhar said they were set fielders always in the slip cordon and were naturally gifted.
“Now, mostly we play with five batsmen and one of them, the captain, is always away from the close-in cordon and one is at short-leg. So, we are left with three specialists due to various reasons like team combinations and injuries,” he explained.
“Like no batsman can score a century every time, no fielder can always take catches. We focus on high percentage of success definitely. So, the occasional lapses cannot be a reflection of the new standards the Indian fielding has reached in recent times,” he says.
