With India not being at their best as a collective fielding side since the last year's World Cup, former captain Mohammed Azharuddin questioned whether the players are concentrating enough when they aren't busy bowling or batting?
While the role of fielding coach R Sridhar has been brought under the scanner, Azharuddin believes the focus and the execution on the field have been lacking.
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"We have got some very good fielders. But, now even they are not holding on to the catches and are making silly mistakes on the field. Fielding is a lot about concentration and I strongly feel that there is a drop in concentration levels of our players when they field," Azharuddin told Times of India.
"In our days, we didn't have great outfields. Now, the players have the best of conditions to field. They have a specialized fielding coach and other back-up staff to support. And still if players are dropping catches and committing errors on the field, then you need to question the fielding coach - why is it happening?"
India's T20I series win after losing the ODIs has certainly masked the disappointing fielding errors throughout this Australian tour, with even some of their best athletes dropping sitters and fumbling across the large outfields.
After the second ODI in Sydney, first-choice wicketkeeper batsman KL Rahul had defended his teammates, saying they've taken time readjusting to stadiums filled with crowds after playing the IPL 2020 in UAE behind closed doors.
"Sometimes it happens, catches get dropped," said Rahul. "I can't pinpoint what is the exact problem, but whenever I have fielded in Australia, the ball travels with the crowd in the background. It becomes a bit difficult to spot. And, we are playing in front of crowds after a long time. So it has been slightly difficult."
For Azharuddin, however, that can't be an excuse at the international level.
"You don't do fielding practice in front of a large crowd. Do you? But yet players have taken catches during matches in front of 20,000-30,000 people. So what's new now?" he asked.
(Inputs from TOI)
