Why India fielding always oscilliate between sloppy and shocking ?

Yeah yeah yeah ,everyone would say it is a more than 4-5 decade old topic but recent few series have compelled me to write by looking it in a more holistic way. Now ,if there is anything in Indian Cricket which is most consistent, then it is our dismal fielding show. Seeing recent matches , it seems that if there exists any ICC rankings for dropped catches , misfields etc then whether it is All Time top 11 , current top 10 etc it would always occupied by Indians and some other fellow Asians . Although Indian subcontinent right from starting of our cricketing history always produce some wonderfully gifted batsmen & bowlers but the great fielder was almost an apparition. British brought their highly royal & upper class sport to India.Though this sport gained popularity steadily in all sections of Indian society but more in a new molded and acceptable to us form.

Dropped catch : Yuvraj looking on

Typically this sport requires a levelled & grasy ground so that the game is played & enjoyed in full spirit. Normally we dont have such lush green grounds ,but that doesnt deter our spirit we take the challenge by playing in bumpy and grassless grounds or sometimes on concrete roads. Thus many of us grew up playing cricket on these gravel grounds. As a result by the time we reached college we had developed an aversion for fielding and weren’t inclined to dive for the ball. So while being self-deprecating about our fielding, we are not without empathy.Also our olympic, commonwealth etc records clearly shows that we never were as athletic as rest of cricketing countries like South Africa , england , Australia , West Indies etc. Typically our’s reflexes are second to none but in our ability to sprint, change direction without hurting ourselves or to throw ourselves we are woefully behind. This physical limitations coupled with above gravels grounds situation clearly defines our current position. Someone would say that we now a days have all sorts of facilities like gym , specific trainngs etc , but to this I would say that how many have this facilities at their disposable . We live in country where a child started playing cricket from age 1 ,so by the time say 18 years, his cricketing skills would been blended in a specific set. So by the time he plays in a serious tournaments his way of fielding has already been set and wont change easily even after providing all sorts of facilities thereafter.But its not that we would remain sloppy fielders always , we are already witnessing some transformation though in bits & irregular manner but as the importance of good fielding and general athletic skill are improving up specially in 10-15 years that we have narrowed the gulf with the other countries . Now our grounds have improved, coaches(read foreign coaches) are giving importance to fielding and budding players know that better fielding will help them move ahead of competitors. The things are certainly looking positive for future specially when India wants to make replica of Australian or West Indies dominance on world cricket in all formats of game.