Field Placement Quotes

The era of playing aggressive cricket and to have the mid-on up is gone. You now try to read the mindset of a batsman.

Cricket is not rocket science. Bowlers often get wickets through perseverance, accuracy and being patient rather than trying to blast opposition teams out.

I am a big fan of the five-bowler strategy.

I feel, as a captain, that when you face a batsman who plays spin well you feel as if you are a fielder short.

The way those clubs shift against Ted Williams, I can't understand how he can be so stupid not to accept the challenge to him and hit to left field.

In T20, I think it's really valuable to have a bowler who can bring the ball back into the right hander at pace.

Usually a captain will allow his bowler to set the field, while exercising overall control and maintaining the authority to step in if he sees fit.

When I was a youngster, Praveen Kumar was in the same club as me, and because we are similar bowlers, I learnt a lot from him. We used to have conversations, but not a lot. What was very helpful was observing what he was bowling, the kind of fields he had, and what his thinking was.

When you've got a team who are making a concerted effort to make a batsman feel uncomfortable it can look pretty ordinary.

It is scary when bowling how hard batsmen hit it now.

According to the situation, your role changes in one-day cricket, especially in a phase like the Powerplay. If I bowl four spells, four times I will be playing a different role. If I come in the first Powerplay, and say the opposition are 70 for no loss after 10 overs, I will be looking to take a wicket.

When I watch a match, I always try to understand what the batsman is trying to do so that I know what I should do to get him out.

Well, I've always prefered playing spin off the back foot because, to my mind, it takes short leg and silly point out of the equation.

If someone wants to try to hit a spinner over mid-on, with the ball turning away from the blade, there is a chance of taking a wicket.

The history of Test cricket will suggest if you hold the top of off longer than anyone else you will have success, in England particularly it's about owning the top of off.

If you don't have bounce on the pitch, even a spinner cannot come handy.

T20 cricket is all about using variations, and timing has to be perfect.

Those first few overs are obviously the most difficult time because you don't know what the ball is going to do in the air and off the seam.

They come with a lot of strategies in international cricket. You face bowlers with a lot more pace.

Strike rates depend on the surfaces you play on.

There are very rare occasions when you get a good wicket to bat on, but whatever wicket you get, you have to play at least 20 overs for your side.

I am not someone like A. B. de Villiers, Gayle, or Dhoni. I don't have that much power. I have to use my brain to manipulate the field and stick to my strength, which is to hit through the lines.

When it comes down to it, it's about putting the players on the field that will be the best 11.

Having captained India for long, it is habitual to discuss with my mates and assess the bowling changes, the bowling changes, the field setting that the opposing captain would do.

It's important on any English wicket to leave well.