India vs New Zealand | India are using blindfold and Teammate technique to improve fielding, reveals R Sridhar

The Indian cricket team have certainly impressed in their ongoing tour of New Zealand as they have put in some impressive overall displays in the five-match saga against Kane Williamson & Co. One of the major areas in which Virat Kohli's side has made some improvement in recent times is their fielding. The credit behind that lies with team India fielding coach - R Sridhar.

In a recent interview, reported by PTI, Sridhar delved into the various practice techniques that he employed in order to the train the Indian squad in such a way that they are able to adjust in tough foreign conditions easily. While the ‘blindfold technique’ was specifically used in England for red-ball cricket, a simulation machine called ‘Teammate’ was used in Australia for slip-catching, Sridhar revealed.

“We have a feeder behind a curtain and the catcher doesn’t know from where the ball is coming from. We would slide it from under the curtain...It did improve their reaction time (reflex), we did that extensively in England throughout the Test series. It was specifically for red-ball cricket,” Sridhar told PTI reporters.

The Indian training staff have used balls of varying weights in training to prepare for the ODIs against New Zealand which has helped the players prepare for skiers with steady breeze threatening to change the trajectory.

“We brought a different type of machine called ‘Teammate’ for slip-catching simulations. We did a lot of blindfold work or reaction work. By the time we reached Australia, it was a well-oiled machine and if you see, Virat took some brilliant catches.

“The biggest challenge you face in New Zealand as a fielder is the breeze. Most of the batting and bowling plans are based around that breeze. If we see the ball wobble a lot in air, we try and simulate that in practice, use balls of different weights, so that the ball swerves and swings more in the air,” Sridhar added.

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