ICC World Cup 2019 | A lot of work needs to go into Rishabh Pant’s fielding, claims R Sridhar

Pant has found himself in the thick of things after being given the responsibility to provide stability and aggression to the middle order. While he has impressed with the bat so far, his fielding was a bit concerning in his first match. Naturally a wicket keeper, he has to settle with fielding without the gloves as MS Dhoni is still in the team. Pant is certainly not the fittest or fastest and has struggled at times but the fielding coach believes he has put in decent performances so far.

"A lot of work has to go into him, first of all he needs to improve his technique in throwing and he also needs to get in mind to be an outfielder. But what we have now, we'll have to use him in the appropriate positions. That is why Virat (Kohli) and MS (Dhoni) are always keen to keep him in the right place at the right time and get the best out him. Last game he saved five runs which is a huge bonus, and he took a catch as well. So no complaints,” R Sridhar was reported saying by News 18.

Dinesh Karthik’s inclusion in the XI against Bangladesh meant four players in the team had kept wickets in the past. While Dhoni, Pant and Karthik have all kept wickets for India previously, KL Rahul serves as the wicket-keeper for IPL outfit Kings XI Punjab and is very capable of filling in behind the wickets if required.

"Obviously, Dinesh actually being a wicketkeeper is quite a reasonably good fielder too. You see he pulls off some good saves at backward point. That's a big plus for us. Rishabh is somebody who is developing into a fielder, he needs to do this a little more to get the awareness, to get the hang of it. That's why we keep harping about using the fielders in the same positions so that they get the idea, the awareness using various aspects of their skills," Sridhar stated.

India has played its last two matches in Edgbaston. The ground’s striking feature is that its shortest boundary measures a paltry 59 metres compared to the opposite end which is 80 meters long. If India ends the group stages in the second or third position which seems highly likely, it will have to return to Birmingham to play their semi-final at the same venue.  

"In a ground like this, there is no use in running around towards the boundary line. You have to cut the angle. We're used to playing in such fast outfields and we'll have to be aware of the boundaries. They're not always in the spherical shape. So awareness is a key thing and we always think about it before every game here," concluded Sridhar.