Drop zone: India need to improve catching

India endured tense moments in the final hour of the drawn Rajkot Test against England before skipper Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja ensured the tail was not exposed with an unbeaten 10-over, seventh-wicket partnership.

However, the pair would have walked off the field wondering what would have been if they had held the catches in the first honour of the opening Test.

In every aspect, the standard of India’s game has got better – the players are fitter, faster and more flexible. Except when it comes to close-in fielding!

Despite leading 2-0 in the series, catching is one area where India will need to get their act together.

Virat Kohli’s team dropped sitters in the first session at Rajkot, and the malady continued to afflict them in the third Test at Mohali. Even though he couldn’t capitalise, England skipper Alastair Cook would have been in disbelief when first Jadeja was late to react to a catch at slip and then R Ashwin dropped a dolly at short midwicket.

“The quality of close-in catching has gone down drastically,” lamented Yajurvindra Singh, who was acclaimed for his close-in catching, snapping up a world record five in an innings on his Test debut against England in 1977.

“The thrust is now on improv- ing skills in Twenty20 and oneday cricket, where their main focus is fielding 30 yards away from the bat. Close-in is an entirely different way of catching. Only Ajinkya Rahane has acquired that skill in the current team,” observed Yajurvindra.

Rahane took a world record eight catches in a Test, at Galle last year. “It’s about anticipation and movement. The fielders at slip and short leg need to get their basic stance and positioning right. This will only be possible when the player fielding close thinks of mastering that position.

“They are standing (in slip and short leg) not because they want to stand, but because they are asked to. Taking 100 catches in practice is not going to help. Only when you have been fielding at that position in all your matches will you know what the batsman is trying to do and where you will get the catch. Otherwise, when the catch comes the hands become very tight; the ball has to come in the centre of the palm,” said the former India batsman.

Abhay Sharma, the India U-19 team’s fielding coach who was with the seniors said reaction time, anticipation and concentration level (for long hours) are the areas he focuses on in training. “We focus on maintaining balance at the time of contact. If we are balanced before that, it will be easy.”

In some instances, the players have not been able to judge the best distance to stand. In Rajkot, India’s slip fielders were caught off-guard by the pace of the pitch on the first morning.

At Wankhede, Yajurvindra said: “They will have to be closer and always bent.”