The Hindu : Sport : Accent on sharpening fielding skills, says Chappell

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Tuesday, Sep 05, 2006

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Accent on sharpening fielding skills, says Chappell

Principal Correspondent

TOUGH TASKMASTER: Greg Chappell feels that there are no permanent slots in the side. — Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

Bangalore: Rifling in throws and sprinting hard to pouch some steepling hits, the batch of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Munaf Patel, Sreesanth and Rudra Pratap Singh had an extended fielding session on the concluding day of their three-day cricket skills camp at the National Cricket Academy, here, on Monday.

The players also had a stint at playing the golf ball with a lone stump but as coach Greg Chappell conceded, the accent was indeed on sharpening their fielding skills.

Area of concern

On the specific areas of fielding that need improvement, Chappell said: "We worked on good throwing technique. We are reasonably good from the short distance but we need to work on the longer distance throws. We are working on their technique so that they get more power and accuracy when they throw. Hitting the stumps is critical in one-day cricket and if you can get one or two run outs, it makes a big difference, it is like having an extra bowler."

Besides fielding, the coach also mentioned other issues that need to be addressed. "Playing on slower wickets and playing against taller bowlers. These are areas that we need to work on. Playing with the stumps and the golf ball is about building confidence. If they can consistently hit the golf ball with a stump, then they have to get into good positions. " Chappell said.

The coach mentioned that the focus on specific areas was an offshoot of constant discussions between the players and the support staff. "We won't have an opportunity like this again before the World Cup and it is a blessing in disguise, yes we would have preferred to play on in Sri Lanka but may be this was meant to happen," Chappell said.

The coach also hinted that slots are not fixed in the Indian team. "We are looking at repositioning some of our resources against different opposition because of the faster bowlers they might have, so that we can match our best attribute against their best attribute at that time. So it could mean someone who bats down the order might bat up the order and some of the top order players could come down. I don't think there are any set solutions," Chappell said.

Backs Sreesanth

Chappell also had kind words for Sreesanth who was dropped from the squad for the ICC Champions Trophy. "Whoever missed out would have been unlucky because they all have done some good work. Sreesanth is improving all the time and his bowling, batting, fielding and fitness are all getting better. Thankfully he has a very good attitude and he can only get stronger. That's what it is, just a setback. He will comeback," Chappell said.

On the plans for the next batch of six players, especially Sachin Tendulkar, Chappell said: "There will be some variations but sometimes the senior players need to get back to the basics as well. Basically Sachin will revisit the basics like what everyone else is doing. He will give an input on what he wants to do. "

On Tuesday, the last batch of Rahul Dravid, Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Mongia and Ramesh Powar along with V.R.V. Singh, who has been called for the camp as an additional player, will assemble here for their three-day training stint.

Cautious optimism

Meanwhile, a mix of exhilaration and apprehension was apparent in R.P. Singh's voice as he spoke about the coming months. The left-arm seamer, who was selected for both the Malaysian tri-series and the Champions Trophy, said that he would take it one step at a time.

"Now that I've been selected, I want to perform well," he told the media.

Singh went off the radar briefly after his spell of 7-0-45-0 at Kingston in India's first ODI against the West Indies in May. However, he found his way back after a strong show with the India `A' team in Australia and was a member of the squad that visited Sri Lanka for the Unitech Cup.

"I got to play on a continuous basis in Australia and got a lot of wickets. The lessons which I learnt from the MRF Pace Foundation also helped me in Australia and the pitches there suited my style of bowling," he said.

"We are targeting all-round improvement. I'm also trying to improve my batting skills. Bowling at good batsmen in the nets will help me as I can plan my tactics better," he said about the current camp.

"Our matches in Sri Lanka were washed out and this camp is oriented to redeem that loss and is also focussed on the upcoming assignments. That the camp has been in batches was helpful for the coach and the support staff to give individual attention to us," he added.

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