India focussing on close-in catching, says Rahul Dravid

Nagpur, February 5

The Indian team is focussing on fielding, especially slip catching, ahead of the opening Test against Australia beginning here on Thursday, head coach Rahul Dravid said today.

The performance of India’s slip fielders has been an area of concern in the past and Dravid said the team is trying to strengthen the slip cordon during its preparatory camp here ahead of the four-match Test series.

“Everyone looks in really good shape. It’s nice to get the Test team together again. We had a lot of white-ball cricket over the last month or so,” Dravid said.

“Some of those boys, shifting from white-ball to red-ball cricket, it’s nice for them to just have that extended period in the nets. The surfaces have been really good as well,” he added.

India are conducting their training sessions at the VCA Stadium with the first Test scheduled at the VCA Jamtha Stadium.

“The fielding side of things has been really important as well. The close-in catching is going to become a really important part of the series. There’s a lot of emphasis and focus on close-in catching, slip fielding, things like that. When you are on the road all the time and don’t get time to build and work on those things,” he said.

Dravid said it was exciting to get one week ahead of the series. “We have had a couple of really long sessions. I think it’s really exciting as a coaching staff because you don’t actually get times like this due to the amount of cricket we play,” he said.