India’s fielding coach tells DNA though he is satisfied with the team’s efforts, there is room for improvement failing which the world No 1 spot may remain a faraway dream.
During his playing days, Robin Singh was the keenest of triers. He helped in run chases, proved handy with his seam bowling and was always willing to fling himself at the most difficult of chances in the field.
Eight years on, he is not much different in his role as fielding coach of India. You can see him working in the ‘nets’ with batsmen and keen to pass on his experience to bowlers, apart from tightening the team in the fielding department.
As a player, he may not have earned the label of a ‘genuine all-rounder’ in international cricket, but one has to give him his due at a time when the team has been doing so well. Having been around as coach for players like Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina since their India ‘A’ days, he has probably not got his due in words, but the former Tamil Nadu player is just happy to be doing his bit.
“My job is to help players fulfill their dreams. Coaching and imparting knowledge comes easy when you know some of them so well,” said Robin. “I try to help them in an overall capacity, fielding is just one aspect. Individually, it takes a while to help players cope with the modern day game with quite a few participating in all versions (Tests, ODIs and T20),” said the 45-year-old, conceding all this is possible because of the players’ keenness to learn as well as the flexibility offered by other support staff.
“There is exceptional combination of the support staff,” he said. “If I give a piece of advise in batting or bowling to any player, I make it a point to tell it to others like Gary Kirsten (coach) and Venkatesh Prasad (bowling coach).”
Robin felt the support staff had enabled the captain to focus on strategies, but it was really Mahendra Dhoni’s astute captaincy and the pugnacious character of other players that helped the team perform so well in the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa and on the tour ‘down under’ apart from recent home series.
“Dhoni is an exceptional leader and has helped others inculcate positive vibes. For example, a player like Gambhir is a totally different player over the past season or so. He talks a lot to us about what he likes to do and what he wants to work hard on. And the results are showing,” revealed the former all-rounder, who has played 136 ODIs for India, but just a solitary Test match.
“It is not just Gambhir but the dressing room atmosphere that has made this team so different. Their approach and attitude has made oppositions struggle to find loopholes. As we have seen, a new man has come up to take up a challenge whenever needed,” said Robin, who felt India’s fielding could prove crucial in their quest to become the number one team.
“We have improved and are among the top two or three fielding sides. However, we have to keep improving to be the best in the world. We have worked a lot on all players,” said Robin. “There is no place for one-dimensional players in international cricket. Fielding is critical and also reflects on fitness of players,” he said.
Asked to identify the most important players for the team, Robin reels off names like Virender Sehwag, Gambhir, Ishant Sharma, Zaheer Khan, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh before coming up with the punchline: “But Dhoni and Sachin are the pillars.”
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