The Slip and the Miss

India has been very poor in the overseas for couple of years from now. But recent times are better compared to what have been going on for the past few years. The Indian teams test failure can be attributed to couple of factors such as the lack of combination. Seniors and legends leaving the arena with in a short span of time will always have an effect on the team. But at the same time the results has not come as expected because of certain factors like not able to find the right combination.

Apart from the batting failure on occasions and bowlers not able to find the lengths are some of the reasons. Slowly the batting and bowling combinations are falling in place except for the spin combination outside the sub continental conditions.

One of the main reasons why India has not been able to catch the game by it neck and drag it towards the win is the lack of one main combination of fielding. There are no second thoughts about the fielding abilities of the current crop of Indians. Never has been the test team filled with such a lively fielders who can take blinders and induce a run out with their quick on field efforts. But saying so their fielding brilliance has always caused wins at shorter formats.

The legends of the past were able to win test and key moments in test’s not only with their batting or bowling skills but also with their fielding skills too. Yes they were slow runners and would not take a stunning diving catches in cover, point or the boundary. But they were always best at a more important place were the ball went most of the time.

The famed slip cordon of Indian legends. The best of them was none other than Rahul the wall. First slip was always seen with the Indian middle order too. The gully was been taken care by the tall and lanky Kumble who made it his own position. On turning tracks it was a toss between Rahul and VVS fighting for the first slip position. There were very few occasions when the ball would slip out of the hands of these legends and was called a missed opportunity. This consistency was the reason why we have a record holder in Rahul Dravid as the person with most number of catches in test history. This meant all the captain had to worry was to call in one of his aces to take care of the slip cordon and in case of MSD all he had to do was to have a chat with one of them for a idea when things dint go their way with the bowling.

Current bunch of fantastic fielders are finding it a bit hard to take catches in the same place where legends of the past galloped those like a kid snatching candy. One reason of this is level of concentration needed for taking catches like these. You need to be bored to hell and still concentrate on every ball for taking those catches. Something you can attribute to the batting styles, when in need you have a do nothing but to concentrate and look for those odd loose balls.

It will take sometime for these guys to get into the grove of playing long innings on testing conditions and to also take all the catches that comes their way in slips.

Looking forward for the time when once again the “Slip will not Miss” catches coming their way.