In the Champions Trophy, India out-fielded South Africa to victory.

It wasn't the only reason for the win, but it was enough for the sages to comment on the difference. What was going on?

There is a lot of talk about fielding. It's never got more attention from coaches and players than in modern times.

But does it really win you matches?

Surely, it's scoring runs and taking wickets that do that. Fielding always comes second to other skills. That's why we never see specialist fielders. Even keepers have to bat up the order these days.

In fact, fielding does win games, but in different ways to batting and bowling. Because these ways are less about individual efforts they get less headlines, but here are 3 reasons why there are no excuses for poor fielding in a winning team any more:

Fielding is team building

Cricket is a team game. The individual challenges are batting and bowling but fielding is always about putting in a selfless effort for the rest of your side.

You don't field for yourself, you field for the bowler and the rest of the guys working hard in the middle.

When it works, and the basics are done to world class levels, you feel like a unit working together to prise out the guys with the willow.

The bowler's trust and appreciate your efforts. The batsmen know they will have less to chase because you never give easy runs.

Mostly this happens subconsciously. You only realise how good your side is at fielding when someone is caught on their heels or a catch is dropped because it's so unusual it sticks out.

But even those rare moments are quickly forgotten because you know that it's not likely to happen again. You can just get back to working together to squeeze the life out of the batsmen.

So, drill yourself hard with fielding. Be the team who practice more than anyone else, especially when it comes to skills where you have to work together to chase, cover and throw.

Act like a unit and feel like a unit to boost team morale and confidence.

Fielding sets the tone

If you have a team of good fielders, batsmen notice it right away. There is a certain atmosphere of pressure that works effectively in all cricket, especially the limited over variety.

Batsmen who are not scoring runs at the rate they need very quickly do crazy things. There is an old adage that three maidens in a row brings a wicket. While there is no evidence that this is true, it certainly makes sense if you have watched or played any cricket.

In fact, with modern players brought up on T20, sometimes three dots is enough.

I coach a young player who hits the ball hard and plays mostly short format cricket who is proud of the fact he has never played out a maiden in any cricket. That's fine if you hit the fourth ball of the over for six, but not very clever if you are bowled after a premeditated swipe because you can't take the pressure. (It happened.)

Momentum may be an overused word, but there is no doubt that the psychological pressure of good fielding swings confidence, and chances of winning, in your favour.

Catches win matches

Even the most hardened traditionalist will agree with the final reason that fielding is crucial.

Forget tone, momentum, psychology, team dynamics, squeeze tactics and the rest and remember; if you make less mistakes than the opposition you will win far more games than you lose.

How many games have you seen where a crucial innings is played without a dropped catch somewhere along the line? It's rare.

How many games have you seen where the team hold every catch and lose? It's also rare.

So while it's a terrible cliché and one used to get bored kids to do another few minutes of practice, it's true.

The trick to good catching it to make sure that in practice there is pressure. Confidence under pressure is a fast route to dropping less and catching more.

Technique is crucial, and you need to master the basics with plenty of technical catching work naturally, but also alwaysadd pressure to catching with games that make your players sweat even more than they would when a real high ball goes up and they know the game is in their hands.

These fielding skills that India do as well, or better, than anyone. And it shows with match-winning results.

You don't need flashes of brilliance (they are a bonus), but you do need 9 good, solid, hard working fielders who trust each other to get the basics as good as they can be.