India v England: shambolic and lazy Indian fielding is giving tourists a helping hand they don't need But this attitude towards fielding has been deeply ingrained since the outset of Indian cricket; and although the Indian Premier League has arrived, and new stadia with well-sprinkled fields, and a generation of whizzkids who throw themselves around, the old habits have not died. Indian cricket was shaped in large part by the native princes who became patrons and captained if they played. All four of India's tours of England before the 1950s were led by maharajahs or nawabs. And their attitude was not entirely wholesome or beneficial. If most of them dived, it was not in the field but into their harem. The Maharajah of Patiala, who led the first tour in 1911, scored hundreds - but not in cricket's accepted sense. This lordly attitude towards fielding and physical effort endured long after Independence and the native princes" loss of their titles. It endures until today. And it is not frowned on either. When Sachin Tendulkar ambled round the boundary at Eden Gardens, picked the ball up as England's batsmen ran a leisurely two, and fired an abominable throw at the wicketkeeper's feet, he was applauded to the echo. When Monty Panesar did it on the first morning, he was left in no doubt by Matt Prior as to his shoddiness. What Fletcher should have done was to insist on fewer old lags in India's Test team. But he is not a selector; and, even more to the point, the only people with decision-making powers in Indian cricket seem to be MS Dhoni, the captain, and N Srinivasan, the board president. By the most incredible coincidence, they also happen to be the captain and owner of Chennai Super Kings. Of India's six specialist batsmen, four are the spiritual heirs of the old maharajahs. Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli are the only two batsmen - the only two players - who seem keen to back up their bowlers. With an instantaneous pickup and throw, Kohli brought off a direct hit to run out Alastair Cook for the first time in Tests, when he had seemed unmovable. England's captain had batted for more than 24 hours in this series, even longer than it takes to drive through Kolkata at rush hour. But Kohli was on his own as an infielder, Pujara being needed around the bat. If there had been someone else of like calibre on the other side of the wicket, like Rohit Sharma, he and Kohli might have vied with each other in hemming in England's batsmen - and changing the culture. And why would any 'experienced' players bust a gut in a Test match? If they are dropped, so what? As stars, they earn vastly more in one IPL season than in a Test career. England's cricket culture has its defects of course. But anyone who considers himself above the team is dropped. As we all now know.