India's fielding coach Trevor Penny on Thursday backed youngster Cheteshwar Pujara who dropped England captain Alastair Cook at the slips early on in his innings, and said the team was working hard to develop a new slip cordon after Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman's retirements.
Pujara
dropped Cook at the slips off Zaheer Khan when he was on 17 before the England skipper went on to make a record-breaking century in the second day of the ongoing third Test in Kolkata.
"Pujara has been practising a lot in the slips. He's been one of our better slip fielders over the last month or so. I know he dropped a catch today which was pretty crucial but that happens in cricket. He (Pujara) got both hands to it but he just dropped it," the 44-year-old Zimbabwean said in the post-day's press conference.
With India feeling the vacuum in their slip cordon after specialists Dravid and Laxman's retirement, Penny said the team's think tank was working towards developing fielders who can field at any position.
"It's different from those old days when you go in and never come out again and then you become a slip specialist. It's changing a little bit in general," he said.