Mumbai: Team India fielding coach R. Sridhar, whose contract has been extended by the BCCI, believes Ravindra Jadeja is possibly the best Indian fielder of the decade. It is under the watchful eyes of Sridhar that the team’s fielding has improved dramatically in the recent past.
While Sridhar showered praise on Jadeja, he said that an improvement in the ‘mindset’ and ‘fitness’ of the players has been the reason behind India’s dominance in world cricket.
“Jaddu’s presence on the field lifts the team’s spirits. He is someone who can keep the opposition on their toes with his fielding. He has an intimidating presence on the field,” Sridhar was quoted as saying by Times of India.
“I wouldn’t like to go very far but in the last decade or so Jadeja has been the best fielder India has had,” he added.
Speaking about the changes, he said: “The change has been in two areas: mindset and fitness. Changing the mindset is pertaining to what the teams want to achieve, and fitness was a crucial part of that.”
The fielding coach said that improving their slip cordon is something that they are looking at.
“Developing a pool of players who can field at slip cordon is an area we are working on. In shorter formats, lateral movement and throwing from the deep are the areas we are focusing on as we head into the World T20 next year,” Sridhar said.
