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'He Is Our Celebrity,' R Ashwin Credits T Dilip For India's Fielding Revolution

Ravichandran Ashwin (X.com)Ravichandran Ashwin (X.com)

Indian star Ravichandran Ashwin believes that T Dilip, the underrated support staff member, is a "superstar" who has improved Indian fielding standards, particularly slip catching. Dilip, who replaced R Sridhar as India's fielding coach during Rahul Dravid's stint as head coach, continued in his role when Gautam Gambhir took over as well.

After factoring in excellent feedback from the team members, who thought Dilip introduced some innovative drills, the BCCI decided to persist with him. After every match, he also introduced the now famous 'Best Fielder' medal, which is presented in a quick ceremony inside the dressing room.

"If you want to talk about fielding, where should we start? Let's talk about Dilip sir first. Actually, we'd searched for our fielding coach (in Google) and he turned out to be an internet personality. So unfair," Ashwin said.

"He is not an internet personality. He is our celebrity fielding coach. Superstar," he added.

It was not an empty statement to support a fellow team member, but the Chennai Test offered ample moments to support Ashwin's remark.

Ashwin on Yashasvi Jaiswal's Stunning Catch

On the fourth morning, Yashasvi Jaiswal was stationed at the backward short leg, and his acrobatic catch off Ashwin ended the resistance of veteran Bangladesh batter Shakib Al Hasan. The Chennai man spoke about Dilip's changes in the last couple of years.

"Slip catching was a bit of a challenge a year or two ago. But Jaiswal has shown improvement in slip catching in the last year or two from the series in South Africa. He has made a very good catch here at the second slip as well," said Ashwin.

Jaiswal made a brilliant tumbling catch at the second slip on the third day here to dismiss Bangladesh opener Zakir Hasan off pace Jasprit Bumrah.

While India secured a brilliant 280 run victory over Najmul Hossain Shanto's Bangladesh, they will next be seen in action during the second Test between the two in Kanpur from 27th September.