Rishabh Pant needs to improve his throwing technique: Fielding coach
Birmingham: The burly Rishabh Pant not only needs to be more athletic in the outfield but also improve his throwing technique, observed fielding coach R Sridhar after his few lapses during the World Cup game against Bangladesh.
Sridhar admitted that as far as fielding in the outfield is concerned, Pant is still a work in progress.
"A lot of work has to go into him (Pant). First of all, he needs to improve his technique in throwing and also needs to be a little more athletic to be an outfielder," Sridhar said at the mixed zone after India posted a 28-run win over Bangladesh here on Tuesday to make it to the World Cup semifinals.
The skipper Virat Kohli and senior-most player Mahendra Singh Dhoni have identified a few specific fielding positions in the deep for Pant.
"We have to use him in appropriate (fielding) positions, that is what Virat and MS are keen on. Keep him at right places at the right time. In the last game (vs England), he saved at least five runs which is a huge bonus. He took a catch as well," the former first-class cricketer said.
As per Sridhar's assessment, veteran Dinesh Karthik is a better outfielder compared to the young turk.
"Obviously, Dinesh despite being a wicketkeeper is a good outfielder. He pulls off some good saves at backward point. Rishabh is developing and he needs to do this a bit more to develop the awareness, to get a hang of it. That's why we harp about getting fielders in same positions so that they get an idea."
In a ground like Edgbaston, which isn't exactly spherical in shape, knowledge of angles becomes important, Sridhar said.
"This is all about awareness just like you saw in the last game against England. This ground is a bit like Eden Gardens. Once you are beaten, there's no way that you can chase it. There is no point running around towards the boundary line."
He then spoke about the solution in such uniquely shaped grounds.
"You have to cut the angles. We are used to playing in such grounds and we will have to be aware of that. You will always not get grounds of spherical shape so awareness becomes key," Sridhar added.
The fielding coach also gave details about how Indian players are encouraged to throw one bounce into the pitches adjacent to the match strip in order to scuff the leather off cherry, which will then help the slow bowlers.
"We don't have any equipment to measure the pace of the throw from the outfield. But we ensure that the throw is nice and hard.
"The reason being that once the ball stops swinging, we want to use the practice pitches to bash (scuff) it up a little bit so that the spinners can get some help," he said.
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30th International Film Festival of Kerala to open with ‘Palestine 36’ film
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The 30th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) beginning here on December 12, will open with the film “Palestine 36,” directed by Annemarie Jacir.
The film is an epic historical drama which portrays the Palestinian uprising against the British colonisation.
The opening film takes its name from the year when Palestine began to revolt against British rule and Zionism, a release from the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, the organisers of the event, said on Sunday.
The IFFK, which enters its 30th edition, will be held at the state capital here from December 12 to 19.
The inaugural film was awarded the best film at the Tokyo International Film Festival and was Palestine's official entry for the best international feature film at the 98th Academy Awards.
Another film by Jacir, ‘Wajib’ for which she won the IFFK's Golden Crow Pheasant in 2017 will also be screened as part of the package of films which won Suvarna Chakoram in the early editions of the IFFK.
The Chalachitra Academy also announced that the Lifetime Achievement Award of the 30th IFFK will be conferred on renowned Malian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako, in recognition of his profound contribution to world cinema.
Born in Kiffa, Mauritania, Sissako’s family moved to Mali, where he spent his childhood. He made his first short film Le Jeu (The Game) in 1989 as his graduation project.
His full-length feature film debut, Life on Earth (La Vie Sur Terre), released in 1999, was featured in the Directors' Fortnight sidebar at the Cannes Film Festival that year, and the definitive breakout hit was the 2014 film "Timbuktu."
Sissako's films are primarily focused on globalisation, displacement, exile, identity, and the struggles of everyday life in Africa, which helped bring African cinema into the global spotlight.
Sissako’s five films will be screened this year at IFFK. Life on Earth (1999), Waiting for Happiness (2002), Bamako (2006), Timbuktu (2014), and Black Tea (2004) are the movies to be screened at the festival.
The IFFK’s lifetime achievement award, introduced in 2009, is presented to a filmmaker who made significant contributions to the art of cinema during their career.
Earlier recipients of the award include Jean-Luc-Godard, Werner Herzog, Fernando Solanas, Alexander Sokurov, Jiri Menzel, Majid Majidi and Bela Tarr.
