Finders keepers
The third in our series of articles examining how the Indian team is shaping up for the coming 2003-04 season
Parthiv Patel is only 18, but he has more than just age on his side. He replaced Ajay Ratra during India's tour of England to become Test cricket's youngest wicketkeeper, and showed remarkable resilience to avoid an Indian defeat at Trent Bridge. His technique and feel for the ball are superb, as is his footwork behind the stumps. Patel's batting has perhaps not come of age as yet, but he has shown a sound temperament and a willingness to improve. Those qualities have seen him get better with the bat even in his brief career till date, and Patel, as of now, is India's fondest hope in the search for a long-term wicketkeeper.
Before Patel, Ajay Ratra was the young up-and-comer. At 22, he has five years of first-class cricket behind him, and his wicketkeeping for Haryana impressed many onlookers with its fluidity and neatness. When he made his debut against the West Indies in 2002, Patel's name was already being whispered, and Ratra quietened those whispers with solid wicketkeeping and a gritty century - on an admittedly dead track. That ensured him a berth on India's tour of England, but when he withdrew midway with an injury, Patel jumped in and has remained a fixture ever since. But Ratra is not far behind. Purely on wicketkeeping skills, he is definitely among India's best at the moment, and although he did not get too many chances to prove it at the international level, his first-class record demonstrates unfussy application with the bat.
If it weren't for his record, Vijay Dahiya would have little going for him. He is already 30, and has been crouching behind the stumps for almost a decade now. His batting style is more carefree slam-bang than watchful play - unsuited to the Test arena. With the gloves, he is safe but hardly spectacular; less than 200 dismissals in 70-odd first-class games testifies to that. But he is experienced, and his batting average at the first-class level sits in the low thirties - just what one would require of somebody in the lower middle order. With Parthiv Patel and Ajay Ratra in hot contest for the wicketkeeper's slot, Dahiya will in all probability not play another Test for India, but he will continue to be one of the most reliable glovemen on the domestic circuit for a few years to come.
Thilak Naidu, by all accounts, is a case of nurture triumphing over nature. His sense of wicketkeeping is academic rather than spontaneous, so although he effects routine catches and stumpings well enough, his glovework is not likely to pull off the difficult chance that turns a Test. Naidu's batting is powerful and hard-hitting; he has a very respectable first-class average, and if he does make it into the national side, more runs will be expected of him than of most other wicketkeepers in India. But Naidu must still push his wicketkeeping skills that extra distance to be serious competition to Parthiv Patel and Ajay Ratra.
Twenty-five-year-old Rohit Jhalani of Rajasthan is a sharp wicketkeeper, although not as impressive with the bat. Sourav Ganguly keeps mentioning the name of Vikram Rathour, who is a more-than-passable wicketkeeper. Deep Dasgupta's name too keeps popping up, the argument being that the runs he contributes may help India more than the harm done by the stray chance he puts down.
Saba Karim: In my mind, Parthiv Patel has done a pretty good job behind the stumps. I am happy to see that the selectors have given him some space, because it is a tough world out there, and the youngster has good glovework and sharp reflexes. He also has a very sound temperament, and he is young, so he doesn't have any fear of failure. He needs to improve on his batting, but I think he is a very good bet for India. Even for ODIs, in fact, if Patel can improve on his batting and be slightly more aware of what he needs to do when he goes in at number seven or eight in an ODI, he can be very useful to the side. I feel Ajay Ratra did a fairly decent job for India as well, but he also faces a similar problem with his batting. I think one good domestic season, when he puts some effort into his batting, will give him immense confidence that he can take into the international arena.