A veteran Indian cricket writer Tuesday lashed out at the national team's poor fielding standards, saying modern players reminded him of the lazy royals of the past. Suresh Menon, Saudi Gazette columnist, writing in the Mumbai Mirror newspaper, compared Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men to the royals who would only bat and bowl and left the fielding to the servants. “In the early days of Indian cricket, the Maharajahs thought nothing of actually having their servants fielding for them,” Menon wrote. “Fielding was for servants, not masters, of the less fortunate who, for reasons of class or caste did not find a place in the real scheme of things. “At the higher levels, it allowed the batsmen to have a prolonged rest, and the bowlers to come off the field after every spell. Our modern maharajas are thus merely continuing a tradition. No running, no diving, no hitting the stumps.” Menon doubted whether any fielding coach could make a difference – he would be up against history, geography and, perhaps, economy. “History – India's tradition of poor fielders; geography – the hard grounds (where diving is fraught with danger in the early days); and perhaps economics – why take a chance on an injury when fielding which might lead to a fall in earnings?”, he wrote. India's cricket chiefs recently sacked fielding coach Robin Singh, along with bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad, after the team's first round exit from the Champions Trophy in South Africa. Misfields, clumsy catching and poor outcricket marked India's four-run defeat by world champion Australia in the first ODI in Vadodara Sunday. “If the Vadodara performance is any indication, then Indian fielders have a problem with anticipation (even those near the boundary sometimes look surprised when the ball is played to them), with movement, with stopping the ball, with pick up and with throw,” Menon wrote. “This is a series of shortcomings that makes a mockery of the art of fielding at the international level. Dhoni was strangely silent about the fielding in Vadodara. Or maybe he has talked about it so often now that he is sick of it. Some things never change.” Johnson, Lee ruled out Australia's cricket team suffered a major blow Tuesday when injured pace spearheads Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson were both ruled out of the second one-day international to be played in Nagpur Wednesday. Welegedara recalled Sri Lanka recalled left-arm paceman Chanaka Welegedara to its squad Tuesday for the Test series in India next month. Welegedara, 28, made his debut against England in 2007 but lost his place after suffering problems with his run-up. Uncapped wicketkeeper Kaushal Silva and middle-order batsman Thilina Kandamby were also named in the Test squad. All-rounder Muthumudalige Pushpakumara is a new face in the Twenty20 squad while fast bowler Dilhara Fernando has been recalled to the one-day party after returning from injury, taking the place of Dammika Prasad. Sri Lanka is scheduled to play three Tests against India, five ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals. Test squad: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Thilina Kandamby, Prasanna Jayawardene, Kaushal Silva, Chanaka Welegedara, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Dammika Prasad, Rangana Herath, Ajantha Mendis Twenty20 squad: Sangakkara (captain), Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedara, Mathews, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Kaushal Weeraratne, Mendis, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Welegedara, Thushara, Lasith Malinga, Kulasekera. ODI squad: Sangakkara (captain), Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Dilshan, Kapugedara, Kandamby, Upul Tharanga, Mathews, Samaraweera, Jayasuriya, Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Thushara, Kulasekera, Mendis.
