Former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin has called the Indian team management to identify the specialised slip fielders after observing few disappointed slip fielding of Indian cricket team in the ongoing first Test against the hosts England at Edgbaston (Birmingham).

In the ongoing Test, even Indian specialist slip fielder Ajinkya Rahane dropped a catch of Keaton Jennings in the early first innings. However, mostly the Indian slip fielders have done well in this Test, especially in the second innings. Apart from Shikhar Dhawan’s one drop chance, the slip fielding was impressively sharp in the second innings.

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However, India’s slip fielding in the recent cricket is not so good as they are currently at the lower rank in this position. Since January 2015, India’s success rate in the slip fielding is just above the 60% and only Bangladesh (42%) is behind them among the top nine international cricket teams.

That’s why Indian former skipper Mohammad Azharuddin, who was also a specialised slip fielder during his international cricket career, has called to identify the specialised slip fielders.

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According to the Times of India, Azharuddin elaborated on this at the sidelines of the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) event in Bengaluru, “Slip is a specialised position. You have to identify the players and they should practise slip catching. Especially the ones playing the longer format should take at least fifty to sixty catches in the position during practice. We have to identify them because they need to proactive and willing to do it. Sometimes, players don’t want to. You need to stand in the right position, concentrate for long periods of time. It’s a difficult ask.”

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He further added on it, “Fielders at slip positions need to adjust. Sometimes you stand too high then the ball falls near your feet you can’t get down. You need to stand a bit crouched so that you can go down and if the ball is high you can jump as well. Reactions and reflexes have to be good especially when you are fielding against spin.”