Most Pak fielders unreliable: Jalal

KARACHI: Former Test fast bowler Jalaluddin has said Pakistan are far behind the international standard of fielding, especially catching.

And there is no magic wand that can convert the Pakistanis players into sharp fielders, he said while talking to ‘The News’.

Pakistani fielders have dropped a number of catches in recent matches, especially off the bowling of Muhammad Amir. More than a dozen catches were dropped — some of them very easy — in the series against New Zealand.

Pakistan and Australia are going to play their first day-night Test in Brisbane from Thursday (today).

Pakistan have never beaten the Aussies in a Test series in Australia. Pakistan, led by Misbah-ul-Haq, have more lethal pace attack than the Australians do and so have a chance to beat them on their home soil this time.

But for that the fielding has to be improved a lot.

Jalal, who is an ECB-3 and PCB level-4 coach, said that Pakistan’s fielding was extremely poor. “Only Younis Khan is a reliable fielder for slips,” he added.

He said that it was Amir’s bad luck that catches were dropped off his bowling. “We have been hearing the same thing for about 15 years — that this time we have worked hard on our fielding. But there has been no progress.

“Physical fitness and techniques will have to be improved to have a better standard of fielding,” said Jalal, the most highly qualified coach in Pakistan.

He said that slips, point, gully and positions close to the batsmen demanded specialist fielders.

He further said that one of the reasons for dropping catches was that Pakistan had been playing most of their international cricket in the UAE where pitches were dead. “When we play on fast and bouncy tracks, our fielders are unable to catch because of the higher speed of the ball.

“In Australia, the team management cannot improve the fielding overnight. The only thing that can be done is tell fielders to think that each ball is coming towards them so that they remain alert.”

Pakistan have lost three consecutive series in Australia by 3-0: in 1999, 2005 and 2010.

The caches dropped on Amir’s bowling were not so difficult, but the fielders were unable to respond promptly. Some went straight into the hands of the fielders who should have taken them easily.

Coach Mickey Arthur and captain Misbah must rectify this, or Pakistan would lose a golden chance to defeat Australia on their soil.

They have to get the fielders trained especially to take catches off the fast bowlers. All of our bowlers can compel batsmen to play shots and make mistakes.

Only if our batsmen click and catches are taken can Misbah break the jinx and make his last Test series in Australia really memorable.