||CF Correspondent||

There is old adage: slip catching is an art, probably the most difficult art of the cricket. As it needs unwavering concentration and enormous practice, the fielders from the different countries often fumbled in the slip cordon, sometimes which effectively decided the fate of the match.

The recent England and India series saw a whopping number of 33 misses in the slip cordon, that too when those two had blessed with world-class slip fielders. Because of the condition, that is not so benevolent for the fast bowlers, Bangladesh however never required shrewd slip fielders but when they tour in the other part of the world, the players found them in wanting in the slip cordon, forcing head coach Steve Rhodes to point a finger in domestic cricket.

“I felt a bit sorry for Bangladesh’s slip fielders. In domestic cricket, they don’t have many slips. The wickets are flat and slow. Spinners bowl a lot of overs. They don’t get a lot of practice,” Rhodes said.

“They go into Test matches quite cold, without a lot of practice and game time doing it. When we go abroad, you need catchers in the slips. It is not easy. The only way to do it is put the machine into action in practice.”

With the first hour of the Test likely to favor the fast-bowlers and if Bangladesh bowl first against Zimbabwe, they obviously would like their slip-fielders to be proactive. Rhodes is optimistic that his charges can do it.