Sport

Indians have excelled on the field

— Photo: AFP

In safe hands: One of the heartening factors in India’s good show has been the sure catching by players like V.V.S. Laxman and Rahul Dravid in the close cordon.

Adelaide: Very nearly lost in the absorbing battle between bat and ball in the three Tests thus far has been a curious transpose: Australia has been far the superior ground-fielding unit, but India has out-caught its adversary.

On Australia’s large grounds, the home side, courtesy faster feet, stronger shoulders and a meticulously coached technique that takes fielders to the ball along the shortest path, has exposed India’s less rigorous approach.

But, the touring side has kept its bowlers in good humour. Nearly every chance created in this most unforgiving of environments has been taken.

Where Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke, Phil Jaques and Michael Hussey have shelled half a dozen chances between them in the slips and gully, India’s close cordon has acquitted itself well.

Australia is a good place to be a slip catcher. The carry sets the wicketkeeper — and by extension the slips — a fair way back. Consequently, the catcher has both time and distance to work with. He can adjust his feet, taking half a step in either direction to both balance himself and allow the arms room to draw back and soften the catch.

India’s slip catching has been exceptional, particularly considering their positioning has been compromised. M.S. Dhoni’s conservatism has forced first slip finer than desirable. As a result, the three slips have been spread narrowly. But, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman and Rahul Dravid have made up with anticipation and great hands.

Tendulkar, the lone slip fielder to drop a catch (at Perth), put on a masterclass in Sydney. He coped expertly with the field sloping away from the playing strip. Dravid and Laxman have both held fine catches.

Dravid’s work to Anil Kumble has been safe, and, at times, spectacular. Not once has he reacted late to a top-edged cut — always an indicator of judgement of depth and concentration.

Most heartening has been the attention to detail. Robin Singh, the fielding coach, conducts his slip-catching drills with the fielders positioned in line with where they will stand in the match. They thus get an idea of the backdrop, the light, the ground underfoot.

“Catching is something we are very good at, and it’s something we’ve worked a lot on,” said Robin on Monday. “We have to play to our strengths. We struggle with our ground fielding to be honest, and we can’t improve overnight. We don’t have very good arms and on the big grounds it’s tough. But, there was a marked difference between Sydney and Perth and even the first and second innings in Perth. The effort was there. The catching, on the other hand, has been fantastic.”

Asked about the changing personnel at silly-point and short-leg, Robin said, "It’s difficult for one guy to stand there and concentrate all the time. We don’t want to miss a chance (off Kumble), because the ball doesn’t turn much here.

"V.V.S. (Laxman) has put his hand up. Sourav (Ganguly) — I had a chat with, and he put his hand up. It’s about putting our senior guys in the opponent’s face. Fielding has a lot to do with experience, a younger guy might not know where to stand, he might not judge bounce as well. Sometimes it’s done for effect, getting our stalwarts in close to increase the pressure"

Australia has struggled with Matthew Hayden’s absence from first slip. Symonds put Dravid down in the second innings at Sydney, while Clarke dropped the same batsman at the same position in Perth.

The need to fill Hayden’s void has had a knock-on effort. Symonds’s considerable athleticism has been ill-utilised. When Ponting relieved the big man from slip duty at the WACA, Symonds immediately showed what Australia had missed. He seemed wasted in the slips when he could have been tearing around the in-field, pressuring India’s batsmen into staying at home and creating opportunities to run them out.

"Without a doubt we missed Matty (Hayden) over two innings," said Tim Nielsen, the Australian coach. "It’s a very specialist position. When you’re main slipper is not there, it takes people out of their comfort zones. We are very conscious of that and are playing catch-up in that regard."

Dhoni, interestingly, has won the battle of the keepers so far, although, to be fair to Adam Gilchrist, a wretched performance at Sydney has weighted the scales.

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