India’s best fielders before the ODI era

Oval, 1971: England v India, Solkar catches Knott
Chandra has ripped the top order of the England team in the second innings. If India get the troublesome Knott out, victory is theirs. Venkat – Chandra’s spin partner in that series – has the usual cordon around the bat. Crouching low at forward short leg is one of the finest in cricket history, Eknath Solkar. As Knott plays forward to Venkat, it is the merest of inside edges – hardly a chance – but Solkar diving full-length forward miraculously takes the ball. The innings folds and India go on to record their first-ever Test win in England.

Attempting to select capable Indian fielders before the advent of ODIs yields about a dozen names. It was only since the growth of ODIs in the eighties that India’s cricketers began to run up laundry bills. The most often heard comment on radio when a boundary was hit off an Indian bowler was “and the fielder escorts the ball to the boundary”. In the sixties, Pataudi the young captain, despairingly surveying his team told them, "All I expect from you is to see dirty trouser knees at the end of the day."

India in the fifties to seventies threw up some wonderfully gifted Indian batsmen and bowlers but the great fielder was almost an apparition. Grounds on which we learnt our cricket were bumpy and grassless. Many of us grew up playing cricket on gravel grounds. By the time we reached college we had developed an aversion for fielding and weren't inclined to dive for the ball. So while being self-deprecating about our fielding, we are not without empathy.

Rahul Dravid is one of India's finest slip fielders © AFP

It is also true that Indians are not as athletic as the Australians, New Zealanders or the South Africans. Our reflexes are second to none but in our ability to sprint, change direction without hurting ourselves or to throw ourselves we are woefully behind. It is only in the last 25 years that India has narrowed the gulf with the other countries. Our grounds have improved, coaches are giving importance to fielding and budding players know that better fielding will help them move ahead of competitors.

And so from the late seventies we have a line of excellent fielders – Brijesh Patel, Madan Lal, Yajurvindra Singh, Kapil Dev, Azharuddin, Tendulkar, Robin Singh (even though he learnt his cricket in Trinidad), Ajay Jadeja, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Aakash Chopra, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, S Badrinath and others. Our slip cordon was also more assured – Gavaskar, Dravid and Laxman are good examples to support that claim. But before the advent of the ODI era, who were the Indian fielders good enough to be bracketed with the best of their times?

The first twenty years of India’s Test cricket, the era of Nayudu, Merchant and Amarnath - yield just a couple of names. Mushtaq Ali, the cavalier opening bat, and Gul Mohammad, easily the best Indian fielder of his time. When Test cricket resumed after World War II, India’s fielding was marginally better. Luckily we had a sprinkling of players from the Services - all fit and agile. Hemu Adhikari was easily the best among them and his colleagues Gadkariand Muddiah showed the benefit of training and serious fielding drills. An electric cover point, Adhikari was the first Indian team manager to put a premium on fitness and fielding. Portly Prasanna made way for the fit and agile Venkat in the 1971 series against England because Adhikari wanted Venkat’s combined prowess more than merely Prasanna’s spin brilliance. Adhikari, therefore, is in a way India’s watershed man.

In the 1950s our fielding came to be represented by Polly Umrigar. Back then, when Subhash Gupte, Vinoo Mankad and Ghulam Ahmed bowled spin for India they had just one special catcher, Polly Umrigar, who was probably the only one who could be counted upon to take difficult catches both in the outfield and close in. Madhav Apte in the outfield was the other good fielder.

Later, in the sixties, we had Nadkarni close in, the brilliant Pataudi, Surti and Borde in the outfield. It was the advent of Pataudi in 1960 that put a stop to that depressing spectacle of Indian fielders jogging to merely fetch the ball back from the ropes. An excellent fielder, Pataudi also plucked astonishing catches from his position at covers or midwicket. In the Delhi Test of 1964 - we recall as though we saw it yesterday – a cover drive by Mike Smith, the MCC captain, struck sweetly flew just inches off the ground. Pataudi swooped forward, and took the ball even as it was dying in front of him. Some wickets must be credited only to the fielder - this was one.

This trendsetter was followed by a succession of good outfielders - Brijesh Patel, Madan Lal, Yashpal Sharma and Kapil Dev. As Indian cricket came of age in the early seventies they had a formidable close-in cordon manned by Solkar, Abid Ali, Venkat and Wadekar.

Picking the good fielders of that era might be an effort. Unfortunately, to pick the poor fielders of those days is not difficult - Ghulam Ahmed was among the worst; Merchant, Rusi Modi, Manjrekar and Sardesai were all poor fielders; Vinoo Mankad was very good only off his own bowling. A whole lot of them short and portly - Sarwate, Mankad, Gupte, Roy, the list goes on - were not quick movers. Some who looked lithe and elegant – Jaisimha for instance – unfortunately did not take their fielding seriously enough.

Fielding is something one can work on and get consistently better at. As we get better we begin to enjoy it even more. Both of us found catching drills so thrilling that even when we were into our forties and playing nothing but office cricket we would exult like children while holding a difficult catch. Raghunath for instance would forever be indebted to his league captain Rangan who gave such intensive close-catching practice that he became an absolutely fearless short-leg fielder. Great close-in catchers in the pre-helmet days were supreme brave hearts.

India’s best close-in fielders emerged during the pre-helmet era of the spin quartet, 1964-78. It was the Solkar-era. When Solkar passed away in 2005 the most moving tributes came from the spinners who knew he provided them a unique cutting edge standing at forward short leg. Solkar had courage, anticipation, reflexes and the god-given ability to go for anything with both hands. There has been none like him. Venkat had equally good reflexes and the ability to spring up from his crouching position at gully or in the slips and took sharp overhead catches with nonchalance.

And thus we come to the end of this tale – we have brought to you memories of the very good fielders of those days. Gul Mohammad, Mushtaq Ali, Adhikari, Umrigar, Borde, Pataudi, Surti, Solkar, Abid Ali…… A dozen names at best but reflective of the fact that India before 1970 was, to put it kindly, ponderous in the field. Perhaps there will be an occasion to write about the world’s best fielders in Test history – about Simpson, Cowdrey, Sobers, Mark Waugh, Jonty Rhodes, Colin Bland and others - but even in such an illustrious list, surely there will be place for Solkar and Surti from India.