Pakistani fielding

[Jono]

How long can this continue?

Deadset it's not hard. Just be a good fielding side. Don't need to be a freakish fielding side. Just good. You don't need money to be good. You don't need exceptional talent to be good. You don't need great resources. Just work at it.

Pakistan are a horrible batting side. Fine. But when you're a horrible batting side you need to be able to field. Catch the ball at third man. Put your body in front of it at point.

How many years are Pakistan going to be a poor fielding side? India and Sri Lanka have made great strides in this area in the last 20 years. Their fielding sometimes turns odi games for them. India Running out AB De Villiers vs SA at the WC won the game. They've learned that you can't be a bunch of lazy pricks. At least most of them.

Step the **** up Pakistan. Go to an oval and get a **** to hit balls at you for two hours. And field them like every friggin prick does at club level training on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

 

[duffer]

They all grew up wanting to be Inzi.

 

[duffer]

33 views and no other responses? Leaving me alone with Jono ffs.

 

[honestbharani]

To be fair, they have had a few good fielders off and on. And I don't think they were this bad in catching, historically. Just seems to be some kind of a recent development.

 

[Furball]

They all grew up wanting to be Inzi.

So you're saying I should purchase a McDonald's franchise in Karachi then?

 

[vic_orthdox]

Cultural, from the bottom up.

 

[Jono]

Cultural, from the bottom up.

That same culture existed in India.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Yup, but there was a flow through in the Indian cricketing culture that they wanted to be "more like Australia" in the early-mid 2000s.

Pakistan wants to still play its cricket as its heroes did, keep that distinct Pakistani flavour, and while that happens a premium will never be put on fielding at the lower levels.

 

[Spark]

Kind of interesting how arguably the most thoroughly "Australian"-style player, attitude-wise, in world cricket right now is Indian (Kohli, obvs)

 

[Jono]

To be fair, they have had a few good fielders off and on. And I don't think they were this bad in catching, historically. Just seems to be some kind of a recent development.

At what point in time would you ever describe the team as a good fielding team? Don't have to be the best or great, but I don't recall a time when they were a good fielding team.

 

[straw man]

Agree with the opening post. Rahat Ali in both the catch he took off Warner and the critical catch that he dropped, looked like he had literally never practised catching. Not even for an hour or two every few weeks. His idea of catching the ball was 'just put your hands under the ball and it will fall into them' and I can only think that's how Pakistan catching training goes. No attempt to position body, no footwork, no stillness, no getting your eyes in line with the trajectory of the ball, no technique to make things easier on yourself, just rely on pure hand-eye as the ball swirls away from you. It would take so little effort to actually train, think, learn something and drastically reduce their mistakes.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

It could be worse - they could give the gloves back to an Akmal!

 

[Immenso]

In the UAE back in November in the series against my team - I was actually impressed and surprised by how good the Pakistani fielding was. Catching and their cover fielding and their hitting the stumps. I'm thinking Shehzad and maybe a few others who I can't recall now.

 

[Daemon]

That same culture existed in India.

It still does for kids who start proper cricket late, or those who come from places with poorer facilities or coaches that just dgaf about fielding. Munaf's a great example imo.

Agree completely that it's gotta be a bottom up approach. That said, Rahat Ali's been around the national set up for a while now and if they were taking fielding seriously he should've improved surely.

 

[honestbharani]

At what point in time would you ever describe the team as a good fielding team? Don't have to be the best or great, but I don't recall a time when they were a good fielding team.

I never said good fielding team, though, did I? I said they had a few good fielders off and on and they were also a decent catching team... I certainly remember some good catches taken in the catching positions as well as outfield by them.. If you consider a number of the Indian fielders of our Test line up from the 2000s, no one was really outstanding in the field but they were all good catchers. Pak had quite a few teams like that from my memory. This utter ineptitude in terms of catching seems a more post 2000 thingy than anything else..

 

[smash84]

I never said good fielding team, though, did I? I said they had a few good fielders off and on and they were also a decent catching team... I certainly remember some good catches taken in the catching positions as well as outfield by them.. If you consider a number of the Indian fielders of our Test line up from the 2000s, no one was really outstanding in the field but they were all good catchers. Pak had quite a few teams like that from my memory. This utter ineptitude in terms of catching seems a more post 2000 thingy than anything else..

This much is true. They weren't always this atrocious.

Wasim, in the late 90s when he was captain ensured a decent fielding standard (himself being not that bad). We had Azhar Mahmood, Shahid Afridi, Ijaz Ahmed, Inzy (slips) who were all pretty decent I would say.

 

[Swingpanzee]

This much is true. They weren't always this atrocious.

Wasim, in the late 90s when he was captain ensured a decent fielding standard (himself being not that bad). We had Azhar Mahmood, Shahid Afridi, Ijaz Ahmed, Inzy (slips) who were all pretty decent I would say.

 

[Jono]

This much is true. They weren't always this atrocious.

Wasim, in the late 90s when he was captain ensured a decent fielding standard (himself being not that bad). We had Azhar Mahmood, Shahid Afridi, Ijaz Ahmed, Inzy (slips) who were all pretty decent I would say.

Quite ironic since Pakistani's crappy catching is often used as a reason to big up Wasim's (already awesome) record - i.e. "imagine if he had fielders who could catch!".

 

[honestbharani]

Quite ironic since Pakistani's crappy catching is often used as a reason to big up Wasim's (already awesome) record - i.e. "imagine if he had fielders who could catch!".

I will disagree with that... They may not have had guys who can turn half chances into chances, but they surely had more than enough people who can hold on to the chances that did come their way, unlike this current team.

 

[kiwiviktor81]

They were always bad at fielding. It was one reason why Wasim and Waqar relentlessly attacked the stumps.