Mumbai: Former India head coach Ravi Shastri advised team India to improve their fielding before their campaign in the T20 World Cup 2022 on Australian soil. Shastri left the Indian team after the T20 World Cup last year.
Team India is currently in Perth where they are playing two warm-up matches against Western Australia XI. Thereafter, they will lock horns with Australia and New Zealand in two more warm-up games before locking horns with Babar Azam’s Pakistan.
As per Shastri, saving runs in the outfield will help India, captained by Rohit Sharma, in the batting department.
“One area that India will have to pick up and start right from the beginning is fielding. They need to work hard and get their A-game on the field when they step out against Pakistan. Those 15-20 runs that you save can make all the difference because, otherwise, every time you get out to bat, you need to get 15-20 runs extra.
“For sides like Australia, England, and South Africa they field like crazy. Look at what Sri Lanka did in the Asia Cup with fielding. They won a tight game against Pakistan riding on fielding,” Shastri said.
“I have been part of the system for the last six-seven years, first as a coach, and now I am watching from the outside, and I think this is as good a line-up as India has ever had in T20 cricket. With Surya (Surya Kumar Yadav) at No 4, Hardik at No 5, and Rishabh Pant or Dinesh Karthik at No 6, it makes a massive difference. It allows the top order to play the way they are playing,” he added.
(Vinayak)
