Emphasis is on slip fielding: Rahul Dravid

The Indian team is focussing on fielding especially slip catching ahead of the opening Test against Australia beginning here on February 9 head coach Rahul Dravid said on SundayThe performance of Indias slip fielders has been an area of concern in the past and Dravid said the team is trying to strengthen the slip cordon during its preparatory camp here ahead of the fourmatch Test seriesEveryone looks in really good shape Its nice to get the Test team together again We had a lot of whiteball cricket over the last month or so Dravid said in a video posted by the BCCI on twitterSome of those boys shifting from whiteball to redball its nice for them to just have that extended period in the nets The surfaces have been really good as well he saidIndia are conducting their training sessions at the VCA Stadium in Civil Lines with the first Test scheduled at the VCA Jamtha Stadium on ThursdayFielding side of things as well that has been really important as well The closein catching which we think is going to become a really important part of the seriesTheres a lot of emphasis and focus on closein catching slip fielding things like that when you are on the road all the time and dont get time to build and work on those thingsAlso readLandmark day for U19 girls Rahul DravidWith the team on the road all through the year Dravid said there is hardly any time to work with the players and hence it was quite exciting to get this one week ahead of the seriesWe have had a couple of really long sessions I think its really exciting as a coaching staff because you dont actually get times like this due to the amount of cricket we play he saidYou dont get time actually to do a camp or you can get an extended period of time where you get to work with players and build up towards the Test seriesJust to be able to get this week has been really exciting for us and we as coaching staff have been planning and preparing for this for almost a month or so on what we will do in these fourfive days Im glad it has all come together really wellApart from the Nagpur Test Australia and India currently ranked No1 and 2 respectively in both the ICC mens Test Team Rankings and the ongoing World Test Championship cycle will also play in New Delhi February 1721 Dharamsala March 15 and Ahmedabad March 913Even though this is a short one by my standards I like to have longer camps where we can work with people But even then were happy to get five days or six days here in Nagpur Dravid continuedIts been really fruitful and the boys are looking good Hopefully two or three days more into the Test match and then we can take it from thereIndia who first played for the BorderGavaskar Trophy against Australia in 199697 have won the last three series in 2017 201819 and 202021The hosts are the current holders of the trophy and will aim to become the first team to win four consecutive Test series between the pairThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever