‘Virat Kohli could intimidate the batters, Rohit Sharma is natural’ - R Sridhar on fielding skills of Indian stalwarts

Former Indian fielding coach R Sridhar has expressed his views on the two cornerstones of India’s batting line-up across formats, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Two of the finest batters going around, Rohit and Virat have mustered a plethora of runs in their glorious career so far and their numbers speaks volumes of their prowess. Besides being batting stalwarts, Rohit and Kohli are also commendable fielders, who don’t mind giving their all in the field.

As Sridhar has worked closely with them in the dressing room, he’s well versed with the fielding skills of the duo. The 51-year-old said that Virat Kohli stills fears in mind of batters with his intensity while fielding in short cover and short mid-wicket. Sridhar also revealed that Kohli was working on his focus and concentration to be one of the best in the position for India.

Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma are India’s best slip fielders

“They (Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma) are, indeed [India’s best slip fielders]. But let me say they are two very different kind of athletes. Virat is extremely fit and agile and was always a very good outfielder. Initially, we used his energy in front of the batsman’s eyes, say like in short cover or short mid-wicket because with his intensity he could literally intimidate the batters,” Sridhar told Economic Times.

“But over time, and this was also because he was a certainty in the team, we wanted him to stand in the slips… He can come down really quick and has done a lot of work on his concentration and focus. Now you can see him go for the half chances and pluck them more often than not,” he added.

Unlike Kohli, Rohit has always been a ‘natural’ slip fielder as per Sridhar. The veteran also revealed that Rohit has been nicknamed ‘sticky fingers’ owing to his ability to take catches regularly. “Rohit, on the other hand, is a natural (slip fielder). We call him sticky fingers in the dressing room. At the same time, he works very hard on his slip catching and takes around 60 to 80 catches during each session to improve his slip catching,” he asserted.