Umesh Yadav took a blinder of a catch to dismiss Corey Anderson in the first ODI against New Zealand and fielding coach R Sridhar feels that the Vidarbha fast bowler has "created new benchmark" for the speedsters.
"It's good to have fast bowlers in the side who are good athletes. Umesh has a very good arm and similarly (Mohammad) Shami is also a good athlete. In the past we had Mohit (Sharma) who was a very good fielder. Umesh is an exception not only because of yards he put in the field but also because of his catching.
"That's probably given him the edge and created new benchmark as far as fast bowler fielders are concerned," Sridhar said on Tuesday.
Asked about who has the most powerful arm from the deep in this current set-up, Sridhar named Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja.
"Jaddu and Virat are the names that come to mind. They have powerful rocket arms and can throw from anywhere with accuracy. In terms of strength and fitness, all fast bowlers like Umesh have powerful arms. In January during Australia series, Umesh effected a run out from 80 metres. As far as one action pick up throw is concerned, it is performed at particular fielding position," Sridhar said.
Sridhar said as per the wish of limited-over skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, coach Anil Kumble and Test captain Virat, the team needs more multi specialist fielders than single dimension ones.
"People like Ajinkya (Rahane) and Virat are more than utility fielders. In ODIs, one needs to suffocate run flow and make batsmen work hard for runs. That's what people like Manish, Virat, Ajinkya do, even Axar (Patel) when Jadeja is not there," he stated.
"Once we get into death overs these are the guys who get into the deep as they have safe pair of hands and throw well from the deep. This is what we try and do. Try to develop multi specialist fielders than specialist fielders. That's what Virat, MS and Anil want. Team benefits in different phases of the game," he concluded.
Raina to miss 2nd ODI
Recovering from a bout of viral fever, Suresh Raina was on Tuesday back in the nets but the middle-order batsman will miss India's second one-day against New Zealand after the Team management decided to give him more time to regain his fitness.
Raina, who had missed the opening ODI at Dharamsala due to fever, batted for about 45 minutes at the nets but the Indian team management confirmed he is still not 100 per cent match fit to figure in Thursday's second ODI here.
"The BCCI Medical team has confirmed that Suresh Raina, who is recovering from a bout of viral fever and had missed the Dharamsala ODI, is ruled out of the second ODI of the Paytm ODI Trophy against New Zealand," BCCI said in a release.
"The team management has allowed Suresh Raina more time to recover. There will be no replacement in the team," it added.
Raina, who didn't bat in Uttar Pradesh's Ranji opener against Madhya Pradesh as he was running temperature, looked comfortable while batting in the nets as he was seen playing lofted shots against spinners at will.
Probably the viral fever must have taken its toll as he is still not possibly fit enough to play 100 overs of international cricket.
At the nets, Jadhav was seen bowling off breaks to both Raina and Dhoni for an extended period of time alongside other off-spinner Jayant Yadav.
In fact Jadhav bowled him for a period of time at the nets. He was also given throwdowns by team's expert Raghavendra, batting coach Sanjay Bangar and chief coach Anil Kumble.
Dhoni batted the longest time at the nets. He faced Dhawal Kulkarni for a considerable period and also practised the pull shot against throwdowns. He then spent another 25 minutes batting against spin especially Jayant.
Dhoni was seen telling Jayant about specific field positions and bowl accordingly. Jayant altered the length and bowled a conventional off break slightly short of length.