Fielding can turn teams' fortunes in WC
There may be doubts about Australian captain Steve Waugh telling South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs that he had dropped the World Cup when he let the former off in the 1999 edition.
However, in the 2011 edition, it is undoubted that not just the catching, but the overall fielding too will play a huge role in deciding the fortunes of the respective sides, more than usual for sure.
Each region that has hosted the World Cup has had its peculiarities but there remains no place as capable of producing tall scores as the sub-continent.
The pitches are flat, commercial aspects ensure that short boundaries get further shortened, while the weather too is mostly unforgiving as far as the bowlers are concerned.
Seen in that light, the odd-dropped catch, the inability to cut off the boundaries, the lack of anticipation within the circle, et al will prove more costly here than in say England or Australia.
Those are places where bowlers stand a better chance and where they don't need the batsmen to always commit suicide. In the sub-continent, it is not mayhem that bowlers fear, but murder itself at the hands of the willow-wielding men, which is why every bit of support on the field is crucial.
Most ironic then that three of the four sub-continental sides will start as the poorer fielding sides in the tournament, with India possibly ahead of Pakistan, but behind Bangladesh.
As Indian skipper MS Dhoni has been wont to admit, his side mostly starts a game 20 runs in the dock -- make that 30 for Pakistan and possibly 10 for Bangladesh.
While it is always easy to criticize, it must be remembered that in the sub-continent, save for Sri Lanka, clearly a top-fielding side, fielding is not given top priority as a cricketer rises because the conditions are against him.
It would take a brave man to dive and slide around in the maidans of Kolkata, the Shivaji Park in Mumbai or the Central College ground in Bangalore. So, even as battin! g and bo wling skills continue to be built up right from a young age, modern fielding drills only kick off from the first class level or just below.
For the BCCI or its affiliates, who can't get even an Eden Gardens ready in time for a tournament allotted at least five years back, infrastructure outside their premises has never caught their attention. Thus youngsters in India at least continue to grow up on grounds that are not just barren but gravel-filled ones at times.
In one aspect of fielding though, no team, whatever the local conditions, can have an excuse. That has to do with throwing, an area where the Australians and South Africans in particular excel.
While the likes of Brett Lee, Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, all quick men, can, by way of their powerful arms, restrict ones to ones and at times twos to ones, the Indians, for example, can count on no such advantage.
Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar may not deliver the ball overarm from near the boundary as many Indian cricketers of the past used to, but the pace they throw at still allows batsmen to run one on the throw.
"Look, if I were building a club side now I would always go for the better fielder even if he's 20% lesser endowed in terms of bowling talent than his competitor," a national selector had told TOI long before the Indian World Cup team had been named. "But this is different. Here, I look for people who can deliver with the ball in front of 50,000 people. And each one of these guys is a proven bowler," he had added.
How much it will cost the Indian team or the similarly built Pakistanis and Bangladeshis will have to be seen, but what is sure is that the other teams, co-hosts Sri Lanka included, will start with a big advantage on the field.
Top fielding units: South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England
Average/poor fielding units: Bangladesh, West Indies, India and Pakistan
Unknown entities: Zimbabwe, Irela! nd, Ken ya, Canada and The Netherlands
However, in the 2011 edition, it is undoubted that not just the catching, but the overall fielding too will play a huge role in deciding the fortunes of the respective sides, more than usual for sure.
Each region that has hosted the World Cup has had its peculiarities but there remains no place as capable of producing tall scores as the sub-continent.
The pitches are flat, commercial aspects ensure that short boundaries get further shortened, while the weather too is mostly unforgiving as far as the bowlers are concerned.
Seen in that light, the odd-dropped catch, the inability to cut off the boundaries, the lack of anticipation within the circle, et al will prove more costly here than in say England or Australia.
Those are places where bowlers stand a better chance and where they don't need the batsmen to always commit suicide. In the sub-continent, it is not mayhem that bowlers fear, but murder itself at the hands of the willow-wielding men, which is why every bit of support on the field is crucial.
Most ironic then that three of the four sub-continental sides will start as the poorer fielding sides in the tournament, with India possibly ahead of Pakistan, but behind Bangladesh.
As Indian skipper MS Dhoni has been wont to admit, his side mostly starts a game 20 runs in the dock -- make that 30 for Pakistan and possibly 10 for Bangladesh.
While it is always easy to criticize, it must be remembered that in the sub-continent, save for Sri Lanka, clearly a top-fielding side, fielding is not given top priority as a cricketer rises because the conditions are against him.
It would take a brave man to dive and slide around in the maidans of Kolkata, the Shivaji Park in Mumbai or the Central College ground in Bangalore. So, even as battin! g and bo wling skills continue to be built up right from a young age, modern fielding drills only kick off from the first class level or just below.
For the BCCI or its affiliates, who can't get even an Eden Gardens ready in time for a tournament allotted at least five years back, infrastructure outside their premises has never caught their attention. Thus youngsters in India at least continue to grow up on grounds that are not just barren but gravel-filled ones at times.
In one aspect of fielding though, no team, whatever the local conditions, can have an excuse. That has to do with throwing, an area where the Australians and South Africans in particular excel.
While the likes of Brett Lee, Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, all quick men, can, by way of their powerful arms, restrict ones to ones and at times twos to ones, the Indians, for example, can count on no such advantage.
Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar may not deliver the ball overarm from near the boundary as many Indian cricketers of the past used to, but the pace they throw at still allows batsmen to run one on the throw.
"Look, if I were building a club side now I would always go for the better fielder even if he's 20% lesser endowed in terms of bowling talent than his competitor," a national selector had told TOI long before the Indian World Cup team had been named. "But this is different. Here, I look for people who can deliver with the ball in front of 50,000 people. And each one of these guys is a proven bowler," he had added.
How much it will cost the Indian team or the similarly built Pakistanis and Bangladeshis will have to be seen, but what is sure is that the other teams, co-hosts Sri Lanka included, will start with a big advantage on the field.
Top fielding units: South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England
Average/poor fielding units: Bangladesh, West Indies, India and Pakistan
Unknown entities: Zimbabwe, Irela! nd, Ken ya, Canada and The Netherlands
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