India have been a far superior side to England in the ongoing five-match Test series but an area where the home team should have done better was close in catching, feels fielding coach R Sridhar.
"I would agree that our catching, especially our close in catching of pacers behind the stumps has not been up to scratch this series. We have set high standards in the last two years but this particular series, things haven't gone our way," said Sridhar.
With constant changes to the eleven due to injuries, the slip cordon too has seen some changes. Injured Ajinkya Rahane is not playing the fifth Test and standing at first slip for spinners is captain Virat Kohli, who also stands behind for pacers more often than not.
Sridhar attributed the inconsistency in catching to changes in the close cordon.
"It (catching) is a work in progress. There have been a few injuries to players in the series. We have changed personnel in the close cordon. It is not an excuse but we are working on it. We are trying to manage the workload, the injury part as far as fingers are concerned. We are sure to get better from here," he said.
India could have dismissed Moeen Ali right at the start of his innings but lokesh Rahul mistimed his jump and could not get to the ball bowled by Ravindra Jadeja. Ali went on to score an unbeaten 120. "It burst through his fingers over the head. May be his timing of the jump could have been better. But these things happen in cricket. It was a tough situation for England at that time, getting Moeen out early could have helped us because the first hour there was little moisture on the wicket. later the wicket eased out and became good to bat on as Moeen showed," felt Sridhar.