What’s common between Mohammad Azharuddin, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja? They are regarded as one of India’s finest all-round fielders, simple! Over the years despite not being treated as one of the best fielding sides traditionally, India have time and again produced fielders who have not only turned matches on its head with an outstanding run-out or a catch but also presented themselves as worthy candidates for the best fielder of their generations tag.
The current Indian team have many who can put their hand up and say ‘I’m the best fielder’. It may be a hard choice to pick the best fielder from the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, and Manish Pandey. They are all excellent in the outfield and have a safe pair of hands.
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This, however, was not always the case with India. Not many would want bet beyond Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif as best fielders of the Indian side of the early 2000s. But there was one cricketer who, like his batting and keeping, did a commendable job in the field for a considerable amount of time for Team India and that is Rahul Dravid.
Known more for his water-tight technique and abundance of patience that could bore the opposition to death, Dravid, believe it or not, was one of India’s best fielders too. And no, we are not talking about his slip catching only. Dravid was pretty good at short leg, at mid-wicket, at covers and in pretty much every position in the inner-ring. After all, you don’t hold the world record for most catches (210) in Test cricket for nothing.
{{/usCountry}}Known more for his water-tight technique and abundance of patience that could bore the opposition to death, Dravid, believe it or not, was one of India’s best fielders too. And no, we are not talking about his slip catching only. Dravid was pretty good at short leg, at mid-wicket, at covers and in pretty much every position in the inner-ring. After all, you don’t hold the world record for most catches (210) in Test cricket for nothing.
{{/usCountry}}Here are five catches out of many that prove that Rahul Dravid was indeed was one of India’s better fielders.
A stunner at short-leg
South Africa’s tour to India in 1996 gave world two prolific cricketers in Herschelle Gibbs and Lance Klusener. In his debut Test in Eden Gardens, Kolkata, Klusener starred with the ball picking up 8 wickets on debut to script South Africa’s victory by 329 runs but Rahul Dravid, who was opening the batting for India, left his mark in the field. In the second innings, Dravid, standing at short-leg dived forward to his left to hang on to a terrific catch off Srinath’s bowling on his fingertips to dismiss debutant Gibbs.
Sharp reflexes at short-cover
A few months, it was India’s turn to tour South Africa, while the results did not change much as South Africa dominated the series but Dravid continued to prove his worth in the field. He hung on to a sharp catch at short cover off Javagal Srinath’s bowling to send back Lance Klusener.
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‘Catch of the season’
India’s tour to Australia in 1999-2000 was forgettable in many ways. The Sachin Tendulkar-led was hammered 3-0 in the Test series and in the tri-series involving Pakistan, the results didn’t change much either. Srinath’s bowling and Dravid’s fielding were however constant. In an ODI against Pakistan in that tri-series, Srinath bowled a short delivery to Moin Khan, which the Pakistan stumper pulled. Dravid, at square-leg, jumped towards his right and hold on to what was described by the commentator as ‘catch of the season.’
Screamer at Chennai
Apart from the iconic partnership with VVS Laxman in the Kolkata Test in 2001, Dravid was simply outstanding in close catching positions against Australia. In Australia’s second innings, Dravid hung on to a stunning one-handed catch at backward short-leg to dismiss Mark Waugh off Harbhajan Singh’s bowling to send the capacity crowd at Chepauk into frenzy.
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Adelaide and Dravid
The India vs Australia Test match in Adelaide in 2003 is remembered for Rahul Dravid’s double century, Ajjit Agarkar’s six-wicket haul and a famous Indian victory to level the series. But in between all these, Dravid, apart from scoring more than 300 runs in that Test match, had taken an unbelievably good one-handed catch standing at first slip to dismiss Damien Martin off Sachin Tendulkar’s bowling.
Dravid the batsman won and saved several Tests for India, displaying grit gumption and tenacity and will forever be remembered for that. His excellent close-in fielding was an added bonus at a time when the likes of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh operated.