IND vs WI | India's fielding issues are not about practice, it's psychological, reckons Simon Doull
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Simon Doull believes that India's poor fielding performance in the ongoing series against the Windies is attributed more to psychological issues rather than lack of practice. India, in the first two T20Is, were substandard in the field, dropping several chances to hand reprieves to Windies batters.
West Indies managed to beat India by eight wickets in the second T20I and leveled the series 1-1, but things could have been different had the Indian fielders held on to multiple catches that came their way in the match. This series has been very strange for India as far as fielding is concerned, with so many catches being put down by a side that prides a lot on its fielding.
Simon Doull believes that this is not something due to lack of practice as the Indian team is too professional to ignore practicing and taking fielding drills. Rather, he believes that it is all about the frame of mind of the Indian players and feels that the players do not want the ball to come at them.
"Once you drop one catch at this level, the ball follows you. And at this moment, the ball is following Washington Sundar everywhere," Doull said in a post-match chat show on Cricbuzz.
"He (Sundar) dropped one at Hyderabad and he dropped another one in this game trying to reverse cup. When you are in that kind of mindset you don't really want the ball to come to you," he further added.
Doull feels that the only real way any fielding team can improve is by changing the mindset of the individual and increase the urge of the ball coming towards them. With the T20 World Cup set to be held in Australia next year on bigger grounds, ground fielding and catching are bound to become a crucial part of the game and Doull believes that the Indian team should focus on the aspect of fielding.
"The most difficult thing as an international cricketer is to change your frame of mind and think that ' I want the ball to come to me.' and not ' i want to hide.'. It is not about the practice, it is in the head," Doull revealed.
