Batting, bowling or fielding – Indian players toil hard in practice to send England a warning message

Courtesy: Twitter (@BCCI)

New Delhi: Fielding is one of the most important aspects of the game, especially in the longer format. You cannot take it lightly thinking that only batting and bowling can win you a Test match.

A catch dropped in slips or in the outfield can prove to be the turning point of the match. Or a sudden run-out by a brilliant fielding effort can turn a match in your favour. Remember it only takes one wicket to shift the momentum.

So, if you are a good batsman/bowler, plus you are good fielder, this additional prospect will help your team in one way or the other.

In the upcoming series between India-England from November 9th, the fielding of Indian team will come under the scanner because the last time when India traveled to England in 2014 for the Test series, the visitors dropped numerous catches in slips which in the end proved too costly in terms of the outcome of the series.

Indian team arrived at Rajkot on November 4th, though the first Test is to played from November 9th. The players are busy in polishing their skills whether be batting, bowling or fielding.

BCCI shared a video of fielding coach R Sridhar, who showed the fielding drills of Indian players in Rajkot.

Here's the video showing the drills:

Want a sneak peek into #TeamIndia's fielding drills? Here's all the juice, courtesy fielding coach @coach_rsridhar's video blog #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/WkuzowjemW

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 7, 2016

.@cheteshwar1 plucking a few beauties during training with @coach_rsridhar #TeamIndia #INDvENG @Paytm Test cricket pic.twitter.com/rcfrKGKmqj

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 7, 2016

Ishant Sharma who suffered from Chikungunya, missed the New Zealand. Now, he is fully fit and retained in the squad for the England series.

The 28-year-old would not want his illness to hurt his success in the coming series.

Here's the video of Ishant bowling in the nets ahead of the first Test:

HE IS BACK! @ImIshant bowling full steam at the nets in Rajkot #TeamIndia #INDvENG @Paytm Test cricket pic.twitter.com/2OzulmxT2V

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 6, 2016

Veteran batsman, Gautam Gambhir was seen facing Ishant in the nets with Ajinkya Rahane. Gambhir has a chance to cement his place again in the Indian Test team.

.@GautamGambhir and @ajinkyarahane88 taking turns at the nets in Rajkot @Paytm Test cricket #TeamIndia #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/lRaZ1bvIVP

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 7, 2016

Most of the players in the Indian team like Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Wriddhiman Saha are good athletes

Last time when England toured India for the Test series in 2012 they won it by 2-1. Since then India have come a long way in the long format of the game. Hosts are the number one Test team in the ICC rankings and would like to prove their mettle against England once in for all.

Test: Virat Kohli(c), Ravichandran Ashwin, Gautam Gambhir, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Karun Nair, Hardik Pandya, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Ishant Sharma, Murali Vijay, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav.