Virat Kohli celebrates with Rohit Sharma after the latter completed a superb catch to dismiss Colin Munro ©BCCI

We used to joke some years ago that if India made 250 in a one-day game, the opposition only had to chase 225. And that if they made 250, India would have to chase down 275. Maybe that was stretching it just a bit but the larger point was valid; that India began a limited overs game with a handicap in the field.

Over the last month and a half, India have played limited overs games against teams that defined fielding standards. Australia, New Zealand and South Africa were always the benchmark, the energy they brought to the field made them a delight to watch and they often gave you the feeling that they were playing with twelve players.

And so it delights me no end to see that India aren't just competitive in the field but have effectively out-fielded both visitors so far. And this with virtually no contribution from Jadeja, who can lay claim to be among the top five Indian fielders of all time, or Rahane or Raina. The captain has set the pace, he has been outstanding, but the newer entrants like Manish Pandey and Hardik Pandya have been breathtaking. And it has now become mandatory for young players to be athletes. In fact, young Kuldeep Yadav who is such a fine talent with the ball but not the quickest in the field, actually draws attention to himself where in another era he might have merged well with the rest.

Given the standards they have set, India slipped in Rajkot and it cost them the match. But in Thiruvananthapuram, having set only a modest target, India pulled the match their way with the catch that Rohit Sharma took off Munro and Pandya's direct hit run out of Williamson. I have long argued that the direct hit opportunity be given the same status as a catch; that a miss be regarded as a dropped catch. Currently a missed run-out leads to a grimace, a throwing up of arms but rarely draws the same reaction that a dropped catch does. I hope that is the next benchmark this team wants to set.

That fielders should give you two wickets every innings is now an accepted part of our game. In top fielding sides, the fielding unit functions as the sixth bowler, but I believe they should also start thinking of themselves as the eighth batsman (on the assumption that a team plays seven). Four boundaries cut off inside the circle is sixteen runs saved, another five can come from the boundary and maybe three or four more from the strength of the throwing arm. That is twenty five and you would happily take that from number eight every day.

As a ground fielding unit, India is unrecognisable today (though the fielding coach might want to expect more from Chahal, Yadav, Bumrah and Jadhav) but I am not yet convinced that similar advances have been made as a catching unit. Maybe that is the next target and while there is much talk of 2019, I think it is pretty safe to say that the team that wins it will either be, or be close to being, the best fielding side.

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