Best Fielders XI of all time
With the advent of fast-paced T20 cricket, the dynamics of the way cricket game is played has changed. Nowadays, the impetus is more on the overall fitness of players compared to the previous generation when only players skill was the criteria for selection into the National team. All the International teams these days employ different fitness evaluation methods like YOYO test to gauge the fitness levels of the cricketers before considering them for selections. The main reason for this is the demands of modern-day cricket where every player is expected to be agile on the field and save as many runs as possible for their team. So let's take a look at some of the best fielders the game has seen.
In this Slideshow, players are selected based on their fielding as well as their batting or bowling credentials in International cricket.
Openers - Herschelle Gibbs and David Warner
Swashbuckling openers Herschelle Gibbs and David Warner will open the innings for this XI. Both have been prolific run-scorers for their respective International teams. In spite of being talented, both players careers have been marred by controversies.
Herschelle Gibbs is one of the best fielders of this generation. He was very agile and energetic on the cricket field throughout his career. His athletic fielding ability can be attributed to his previous background in the rugby sport. He was a versatile fielder, he could dive extravagantly, he lethal at throwing the ball towards stumps from anywhere in the field and also had one of the safest pairs of hands. He turned matches dramatically from difficult situations and put his team in favorable position through his extraordinary fielding efforts on several occasions. He has held a total of 210 catches throughout his International career.
David Warner has been a live wire on the cricketing field ever since his debut. His hand-eye coordination and quickness are the most important factors which make him a dangerous fielder. He is a very safe catcher be it in the deep or inside the circle. The best aspect of his fielding is his ability to cover the ground quickly and with this ability, he saved many runs for his team in the slog overs, which proved detrimental to the final result of the matches on several occasions.
The two are selected in this XI as openers after considering both fielding and batting attributes.