Indian Catching-3: The present

Right now India have two brilliant infielders from the one-day side Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif playing in Tests. "Wow - Yuvi and Kaifu? India must be having a great time pouching half chances!" Not quite! The principal areas of concern with Yuvraj and Kaif are highlighted in this post of Jagadish.

The two young men are indeed jumpy i.e. they fail to stay still and low till the last possible time, flaws that define the line between ordinary and great catchers that have prowled near the bat. They are still on the learning curve but their fumbles stand out in a setup that offers little cover for them.

Laxman looks like having lost some of his reflexes and / or concentration, and it has come earlier in his career than expected. The decline shows in his recent batting displays. [I wish I could explain how sad that is from a personal point of view, and how desperately I want to be proven wrong.]

Jaffer is passable as a fielder but from whatever little we saw so far he has some way to go to be called a good slip catcher. Jaffer is missing a few on slower tracks because he has problems with catches requiring a lunge to the front. Quite the same with Yuvraj and Laxman. Sehwag is as inconsistent in positions around the stumps as he is brilliant in front of it, armed with a bat.

As for Dravid, he remains a steady slipper but he is not getting any younger. Also, with his skipper's cap on he keeps grassing a few critical ones every now and then. Understandable, that. Not everyone can aspire to match Tubby Taylor, the iconic Australian slipper-skipper of 1990's who struggled with batting form for prolonged periods and faced the axe but seldom spilt a catch or missed a captaincy beat.

[next: The Australian Connection]