How important is fielding ability in cricket?

I have a theory to improve Indian cricket. It is based on my experience while playing for my hostel team in IIT Delhi almost 27 years ago.

Our hostel captain was a guy called Sanjay Savur. Sanjay was a wicketkeeper batsman from Bombay, studied in the Bombay Scottish School and played a lot of his cricket at Shivaji Park. Sanjay's theory was very simple - you played for Kumaon hostel if you were totally committed. And it was fairly easy to assess your commitment to the cause when you were fielding. Therefore Sanjay made sure that he did not pick people who were not totally committed in the field. Sanjay's theory was just fine by me. Fielding was my favourite discipline in cricket, and I loved throwing myself around to save any runs I could. However Sanjay's selection method meant that one or two really good batsmen or bowlers did not make it into the playing eleven due to their fielding. These were not popular decisions, but the message came through loud and clear. We won the inter hostel championship two years running - I do not think it was a coincidence!

I really think that Sanjay was way ahead of his time - he was almost a visionary. If Sanjay's yardstick were to be applied to Indian cricket today, Munaf Patel would never make the team. And judging by what I saw today, Abhimanyu Mithun would not have made his Test debut for India in the Galle Test match.