Shikhar Dhawan Could Struggle In Slips After Recovering From Injury, Feels India Fielding Coach
Shikhar Dhawan is a natural right-hander, thus the injured left bottom-hand won't make things difficult for him while batting.
Highlights
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Shikhar Dhawan suffered a thumb injury during a World Cup hundred
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The injury ruled him out for at least next four World Cup matches
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Sridhar feels fielding in slips could be a "challenge" for Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan suffered a thumb injury after a World Cup hundred that ruled him out for at least next four matches. Even though India fielding coach R Sridhar feels the left-handed opener is expected make a comfortable comeback after recovering from the injury, fielding in the slip region could emerge as a "challenge" for Shikhar Dhawan. The India opener was hit by a Pat Cummins delivery during his innings of 109 against Australia. Shikhar Dhawan is a natural right-hander, thus the injured left bottom-hand won't make things difficult for him while batting.
"Throwing won't be a problem, but definitely there will be impact while fielding and catching, especially (since) he's a slip fielder. If you know, he stands in the slips in the initial phase of the innings, that can be an issue. We'll test him out with lighter balls first and gradually move on to the cricket ball and see how it goes from there, but, yeah, that will be a challenge," Sridhar said.
"Once we assess him, probably on 10th or 12th day, we'll have to look - it's his bottom hand (left) while batting. It's not his dominant hand because he's a (natural) right-hander," he added.
The Indian team, when it comes to direct throws, is not the best among other competing teams but the fielding coach would be pleased if the conversion rate is even 25 percent.
"That's a very good observation. It is something which I have my eye on as well, and we practice a lot for that. I would say converting, whether it's a run-out or not, converting one in three or four throws is a good conversion rate, in my opinion.
"Don't judge me on that opinion, but picking up one out of four, you're doing a good job as a direct-hit unit. But we failed to do that in the last game. We had over ten strikes, and we hit only once. In some days, we hit three out of five.
"That is one area we work hard on in every session."
India are scheduled to play Pakistan in their next World Cup 2019 match in Manchester on Sunday.Â
(With PTI inputs)
India Cricket Team
Shikhar Dhawan