Fielding coach R Sridhar: India's catching has been below par

The visitors rode on a sensational batting performance by Moeen Ali (120 batting) and Joe Root (88) to reach a commanding 284 for 4 at stumps on day one at the Chidambaram Stadium after opting to bat.

The visitors were aided by some missed opportunities on the field, including a catch of centurion Moeen.

“I would agree that our catching, especially our close-in catching, off pacers, behind the stumps, has not been up to scratch as far as this series is concerned. We have set high standards the last couple of years, and in this particular series, things haven't gone our way,” he told a news conference after the day’s play on Friday (Dec 16).

“It is a work in progress. There have been a few injuries for players in the series. We have changed personnel in the close-in cordon all the time. That is something we are working on. It is not an excuse, but it is something we have to get around. We are trying to manage the workloads, and the injury part as far as fingers are concerned. We are working hard to improve. We are sure to get better from here,” he added.

KL Rahul dropped Moeen early in the innings.

“It burst through his fingers over the head. Maybe his timing of the jump could have been better,’ 46-year-old Sridhar noted.

“But these things happen in cricket. It was a tough situation for England at that time, getting Moeen out early could have helped us because (during) the first hour there was little moisture in the wicket, later on the wicket eased out and became good to bat on as Moeen showed. We have to give credit. Root was fabulous.”

Jadeja was the pick of the Indian bowlers, with figures of 3-73 off 28 overs. Sridhar lauded the spinner’s patience and endurance.

“I think on this wicket, the pace at which the bowlers bowl is critical,” Sridhar noted. “As you saw the wicket slowed down. We thought (Ravichandran) Ashwin will start off by bowling slower through the air to force the batters to make errors. But later on, the pitch eased out. Then the bowlers had to bowl a little quicker, otherwise, it was easy for batsmen. Jadeja was accurate. He bowled tidy lines. That is why he was rewarded with.”