JOIN USMaking a mark in the field
Three years ago when India came to Australia, M S Dhoni wasn’t the most popular figure among the senior group of players in the team for his decision to rotate them to beef up the fielding in the tri-series.
Only two of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir could be accommodated in the playing 11 as they were a bit slow on the field to Dhoni’s liking.
Like all things with Dhoni, the logic behind this ‘strategy’ was simple -- one senior player less on the field was equal to 20 runs being saved and once you save those many runs, there is a less pressure on the batting group to score those extra runs, whether you are setting up a total or chasing a target.
Some pointed out to India’s triumphant World Cup campaign a year ago in 2011 when the team coped well with more than three ‘slow’ fielders in the squad. But then one has to keep in mind the conditions in India where the smaller grounds don’t expose their lack of agility. The distances to be covered are shorter while throwing from the boundary is a lot easier than in the big Australian grounds.
While the three were safe fielders, they weren’t quite quick and in Australia they would inevitably struggle. Whether their replacements were worthy enough to displace them in the side or even the move itself made any sense in the larger scheme of things is debatable but the Indian skipper can now relax that he doesn’t have to worry too much about hiding a fielder.
“I don't always have to think about which player needs to go where,” said Dhoni after the South Africa match. “I have time to think more about the strategies rather than trying to use four or five good fielders and seeing what's really needed -- whether I need to stop the singles or I need boundary riders who can stop the twos and the threes. That actually eases the pressure off me.”
This is easily India’s best fielding side in a World Cup and there can’t be a bigger compliment that they even outdid South Africa on the field on Sunday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
All along the tri-series, the Indian batting and bowling came under the scanner for their ineptness but their good effort on the field went unnoticed in the din of criticism of the other two departments. However, with batting and bowling shaping up well in the World Cup, the fielding too has attracted a lot of positive reaction for a change.
There is certain glamour to batting and to a lesser extent to bowling but fielding doesn’t always enjoy the same adulation. Yet, it’s this aspect of the game that truly reflects the spirit of a team sport and Jonty Rhodes, who perhaps provided a touch of glamour to fielding with his gravity defying acts, once explained this fact better than anyone else.
“If I score 30 runs in a game and Allan Donald bowls badly and I save three or four fours, he will have figures of 40-45 off 10 overs instead of 60 off 10. I don’t get ‘Jonty had scored 30 and now he gets 50.’ It all goes to Donald and to the team. So, when you are throwing around yourself, it’s not only for your benefit, but for team’s and bowler’s benefit. So it’s a good reflection on team unity,” he had said.
There is always a buzz in the group when fielding is tight. A diving stop, a blinder of a catch or a run-out at a crucial stage can lift the morale of the whole team. The two run-outs in quick succession that India effected against South Africa to dismiss AB de Villiers and David Miller proved to be the turning point of the match.
In India, it’s only in the last decade or so that fielding is being given the importance it deserves. Where in the past a player used to escort the ball to the fence, today a Raina or a Jadeja will sprint, slide and drag the ball inches from the rope to save a run or two… A run saved, after all, is a run scored. The catching of this group too has been excellent while throwing from the deep, as witnessed against South Africa, has seen a massive improvement.
A lot of this change, obviously for the better, can be attributed to increased fitness standards of the Indian players and the improved infrastructure. No one minds diving or sliding on a lush green field that provides insurance against his acrobatic acts.