Technically our fielding is far superior, believes Biju George

The last couple of years have seen a drastic improvement in Indian women’s cricket team and one of the departments which has sen a revolutionary transformation is fielding. The man behind it is their fielding coach Biju George who has turned the Achilles heel of the team to their greatest strength. The team seem to radiate a charm and ooze confidence as it feels like there is a spring in every step they take. 

The person behind this revolutionary transformation in the team is their fielding coach Biju George, whose contract is about to end. George revealed that his prime motive was to inculcate fondness towards fielding in the girls and as he leaves it seems like he has just nailed it. 

“I went from the Kolkata Knight Riders (support staff) to join the Indian women's team. I tried to implement the fielding techniques I had learnt at KKR with the girls. There were a lot of apprehensions among the girls at first and a lot of eyebrows were raised. I realized the Indian team affected very few run-outs when I assumed charge. So, I focused on that. In the first match against England in the Women's World Cup, we affected four run-outs and went on to stun the hosts. That's where it changed I think and the girls realized that good fielding can win you matches," Biju told TOI.

George focussed on picking up players for specific positions and trained them accordingly. The method seems to be effective as it has brought about a remarkable improvement in the players. 

"Though the basic fielding technique is the same, each position requires its own skill-set. So my next task was to identify fielders for each position. Poonam Yadav is now being assigned the task of patrolling short fine-leg or short third-man. Similarly, Jemmimah, who is an excellent fielder, is used in the slips, cover and in the deep and is given specific drills to improve at each position. So now everyone from Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jhulan Goswami to Deepti Sharma and Shikha Pandey know before the game where they will be fielding and what is expected of them. This has gone a long way in Indian women's team excelling now as a fielding unit," he added. 

George expressed his ambition to train Indian junior or list A teams. He said that he would like to focus on his coaching centre in Thiruvananthapuram when asked why he didn't extend his contract with the women’s team. 

"I enjoyed working with the girls. But now it is time to move on. I have my own coaching centre in Thiruvananthapuram. Also, I would like to work with Indian men's junior teams and 'A' teams if given an opportunity."