India fielding coach Sridhar said India are on the top of their game where fielding is concerned though direct throws is an area one needs to work on.
"It is something which I have my eye on and we practice a lot for that. I would say converting, whether it's a run-out or not, converting one in three or four throws is a good conversion rate. In my opinion, picking up one out of four, you're doing a good job as a direct unit. But we failed to do that in the last game. We had over 10 strikes and hit only once. On some days we hit three out of five. It's a practice thing but that is one area we work hard on in every session," he said.
Talking about criticism around modern fielders throwing unnecessarily, he said if there is an opportunity, a fielder is encouraged to go for the stumps. "We believe that his teammate will be backing up. We encourage fielders to create an opportunity where none exists. We encourage them to try and convert an opportunity which they have created. So that is a rule we would like to take as a fielding unit, to be more on the aggressive side. We all know where it comes from. It comes from the captain himself," he said.
That, he asserted, was the kind of cricket India want to play. "There is a brand of cricket we want to play as a fielding unit, so we encourage that. In the bargain, we lose one here or there, it doesn't matter because on a good day we pull off two or three brilliant run-outs. Also, if you keep throwing at the stumps, it keeps your shoulder warm in conditions like this".
Speaking about managing players like Bumrah, Chahal and Kedar in the outfield, Sridhar said they have been working hard on it, especially Bumrah who has shown a marked improvement in his fitness levels. "Bumrah is one of the hardest workers as far as fielding goes. From when he joined the team in 2016 to what he is now, he's a massive improvement, although still a work in progress, but a massive improvement," Sridhar said, adding that what is needed is the right mindset of the players combined with the increased levels of fitness. "Then we can chip in with the technical aspect of fielding like awareness and anticipation."
So how does it go to practice in such cold weather where catches are being dropped by all teams? "Hand warmers is obviously the first option to keep hands warm. Also, if you're running around in the ground between overs or between field positions and throwing the ball around to the players, that keeps you warm between overs and doesn't allow your body to cool down. We also practice in the same weather, so that also gives us a heads up," he said.
On training an injured Shikhar Dhawan, Sridhar said: "It's his bottom hand while batting, if I'm not mistaken. It's not even his dominant hand because he's a right-hander. Throwing won't be a problem, but definitely the impact while fielding and catching, especially as he's a slip fielder in the initial phase of the innings. That can be an issue. We'll test him out with lighter balls first and gradually move on to the cricket ball and see how it goes from there. But yes, it will be a challenge," he added.
Sridhar is happy with the kind of resources he has. "We have a terrific slip catcher and a safe catcher in Rohit, and we have two guys, Virat and Jadhav, who are very intimidating in the field. They can intimidate any batsman, and they are prowling in the 30-yard range. To complement that, we have a player in Hardik Pandya, who can really help when needed. We are safe catchers. We're not fast bowlers. These are all the usual suspects, but we saw Chahal and Bumrah crack it up in the last game, diving after bowling long spells. We were in the penalty minute ball of the inning, diving and stopping runs. So that all goes well," the coach said.
The biggest thing for Sridhar has been the attitude of the fielders, where they put the team ahead of themselves, qualities which you need when you want to go out and win championships.
