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'I don't agree with it. It is not ideal': India legend not impressed with Mayank Agarwal's bizarre fielding stance vs NZ
One of India's best and sharpest slip fielders is not on board with Mayank Agarwal fielding on his knees against New Zealand.
Mayank Agarwal brought out a leaf out of Marcus Trescothick and Joe Root’s books, when the India player fielded while being on his knees in the slip cordon on Day 2 of the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur. Agarwal, position at second slip, was on his knees the entire time while fielding against spinners R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel to negate the lack of bounce on the surface.
The indifferent stance received mixed reactions but former India batter and one of the country’s safest and sharpest slip fielder VVS Laxman was on board with it. Laxman feels fielding on knees will restrict the movement of the fielder and in turn, make it tough for the individual to grab the ball moving to his left or right.
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"Because of lack of bounce, we saw something different. We saw this same thing in Vizag when India played. A different stance to stand in gully. I don’t agree with it. When you are in this position, when you want to be in close-in fielding position, you need to be ready for the catches that are coming in front, right, left or above. But in this position, all you are doing is waiting for the ball that is coming in front of you, which means it is not ideal," Laxman said on Star Sports before the start of Day 3.
Agarwal continued his new fielding stance on the third day, as Laxman stressed on the importance of a move conventional stance while fielding at slips.
"The ideal thing would be to back yourself, stick to a position, be in frame. You do so much of preparation, take so many catches. You trust your instincts and reflexes and then find ways to still be on the ball to keep it inside and then take it low, when you are pushing yourself in front, right, left and also up. So that is the position I would back Mayank Agarwal to be in. Not in this," the former batter added.
