Analysing the performance of slip fielders in last 10 years in Tests

There is no doubt that Test cricket is the purest form of the game. The players need to have immense concentration and patience to be able to dominate the opposition or even save the match. With the focus on batsmen and bowlers more often, the efforts taken by the fielders, especially the ones standing in the slip cordon goes unnoticed. The job of the bowlers is to create a chance but the fielders can only convert it into a wicket with their catching skills.

With the pitches become bowling friendly nowadays to eke out a result in a Test match, the slip fielders’ role has become crucial than ever. May it be the new swinging ball bluffing the batsman or the old ball turning square to take the edge of the bat, the players standing in slips always have to be alert irrespective of the amount of the time they’ve spent on the field.

CricViz analysed the performance of the slip fielders in terms of catches taken in the longest format of the game in last 10 years. And it has turned out that former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith has managed to grab 89.2% of the catches that came his way. The list includes a total of 19 players including Smith who have taken 30 or more slip catches since 2010 and India skipper Virat Kohli has dropped most among them.

He has managed to get hold of 63.6% of the catches in the slips while he shelled the rest of them. While Kohli’s ground fielding is exceptional, his catching, according to this analysis, is not great.

Ben Stokes also culprit of dropping more catches

England all-rounder may be in the best phase of his career with bat and ball, but he is clearly struggling in the slips. He has dropped 31% of catches that came his way while standing at the crucial position according to the analysis. AB de Villiers is the next worst in the list taking only 71.1% of catches.

Apart from Graeme Smith, Faf du Plessis and Jacques Kallis have occupied the top positions, second and fourth place respectively, in terms of slip-catching. Michael Clarke, known for his exceptional fielding and direct hits, is the third in the charts having converted 83.1% of chances into wickets. Ajinkya Rahane of India is at the 10th place with a healthy conversion rate of 76.3% in terms of slip-catching.

Presence of four South African players in top six of this list proves why there were at the top of the ICC Test rankings for a few years in the last decade.

Here’s the detailed analysis: