Virat Kohli Is A Ready-Made Template For Young Fielders - R Sridhar

The last couple of years have not only witnessed the rise of Indian Cricket in bowling and batting but also shown a tremendous rise in their fielding standards. The coach R Sridhar received all the accolades for turning Virat Kohli-led side to one of the best fielding teams in the world cricket. But, everything isn’t the same at the moment.

The fielding graph of Indian National Cricket Team is hitting downward direction, as they are dropping catches on a regular basis and misfielding the ball to allow an extra run for the opposition. The current series against New Zealand itself seen India missing crucial chances in the middle to make things tough for themselves.

We were average, to say the least – R Sridhar

Both Ross Taylor and Tom Latham got chances in the first ODI at Hamilton, which cost India the match. Speaking of the same, R Sridhar admitted the mistakes of the Indian team on the field and explained how mental aspects overcame technical aspects to let the fielder loose.

“The West Indies series at home was somewhere we really dropped. We were average, to say the least. But definitely we have not lived to the standards as we did in the world cup or even in the build-up to the World Cup in the last couple years,” said Sridhar on the eve of the second ODI.

“We try and tell them to think ahead of the game, you as a fielder captain yourself, see which way the breeze is, which way the batsman’s tendencies to hit are, what’s the bowler’s plan and position accordingly. Apart from that, we do have a look at the videos and see what led to an error. It need not always be a technical error every time there is a fumble or a dropped catch. We need to know whether it could be a tactical position error or the mind not being in the right place, so many things that can lead to it,” he explained.

I ask youngsters to watch Virat Kohli –

Though other fielders had tough times in the middle, the skipper Virat Kohli showed how it should be done. Be it the run out of Colin Munro in T20I or Henry Nicholls in ODI, Kohli displayed high-quality skills in the middle. Speaking of him, R Sridhar showered words of praise on the skipper and asked the youngsters to follow him on the field.

“The kind of intensity Virat Kohli brings on to the field, I always say to the younger boys who come, he is a ready-made template for you to copy. Watch him, see what he does,” Sridhar said.

Notably, R Sridhar was appointed for the second time in a row after helping India raise their fielding standards. He even outsmarted a coach like Jonty Rhodes to retain his position in the Indian team.

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