Suresh Raina picks Ajinkya Rahane as India’s best fielder

Indian batsman Suresh Raina has picked Ajinkya Rahane as the best Indian fielder in the team. Raina believes Rahane has a perfect technique while catching the ball. There is no doubt that Rahane is India’s best slip fielder in the last few years. However, Virat Kohli generally positions Rahane in the gully region in the recent past.

Ajinkya Rahane is a regular in the Test side but he hasn’t played a lot in the shorter formats due to his low strike rate. Meanwhile, Raina, who is regarded as one of the best Indian fielders added Rahane’s body can bend when he moves, which is crucial in his success as a fielder.

Raina said Rahane can judge the batsman’s movement from the slips, which helps him in predicting where the ball might come if the batter edges it. Rahane has soft hands while he tries to catch the ball and there is no doubt that he has a safe pair of hands.

The Mumbai batsman has taken 81 catches in 65 Test matches whereas he has bagged 48 catches in 90 ODI matches. Furthermore, Rahane has grabbed 16 catches in 20 T20Is. Rahane could be next seen in action on India’s tour of Australia where the visitors will play four Test matches.

“Ajinkya Rahane has better catching skills. I always love his positions while fielding. He has a different kind of power. His body can bend when he moves, that is very different from the rest,” Raina said while talking on SportScreen.

“He is a very good slip fielder, he judges the batsman’s movement from behind and anticipates, which is very important as the distance is not much between the slip fielder and batsman. He also practices like that so it makes it easier during matches,” he further added.

Meanwhile, India’s fielding has shown an improvement graph in the last couple of years. The Indian players have paid special attention to their fitness, which has helped them improve their fielding.

Virat Kohli has led from the front and the players have reaped fruits for spending quality time in the practice sessions. A lot of credit also goes to fielding coach, R Sridhar who has done a fine job in helping the players with their fielding drills.

India has a potent fielding unit with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Umesh Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja doing a fine job in the field.