The best fielder medal in the dressing room of Team India has been a massive hit among the fans on social media. And so it has been among the players.
The Team India fielding coach, T Dilip, has been giving away a best fielder medal after each of India’s matches in the ongoing World Cup 2023. So far, five different players have got the medals in five games.
What started as a tradition in the first game is now a very anticipated and exciting event after every game as the Team India players celebrate the medal victory enthusiastically.
Fielding coach T Dilip has found innovative ways to award the medal. In Pune, he asked the broadcasting team to show Ravindra Jadeja on the giant screen as the best fielder of the match. In Dharamsala, he had the spider-cam deliver a photo of Shreyas Iyer along with a medal.
BCCI official reveals why and how the Best Fielder Medal was started in Team India dressing room:
A BCCI source has been quoted by InsideSport, saying that this best fielder medal tradition was started to increase the competitiveness among the players and to motivate them to level up their fielding standards.
“The team management felt that an exercise where the best fielder should receive a medal should take place in order to keep the environment more competitive among the players after Australia’s three ODI series,” a BCCI official said, as quoted by InsideSport.
This motive of the management has been successful as the players themselves seem very eager to win this medal. Ravindra Jadeja, after taking a brilliant catch in Pune, straightaway signalled to the fielding coach T Dilip gesturing that he wanted the medal today. Shreyas Iyer made a similar gesture after taking a superb diving catch in Dharamsala.
It is believed that this tradition was devised after India’s sloppy fielding efforts during one of the ODI matches against Australia last month, where the players dropped 2-3 catches.
Meanwhile, Team India is at the top of the points table, and is the only unbeaten team in the World Cup 2023 with 5 wins in 5 games.
