Indian Catching-7: Wicket Keeping

Wicket keeping must be the big daddy of all Indian catching worries. Since the safe days of Mongia, India have hurtled from one disastrous wicket keeping experiment to another. Syed Saba Karim was the first keeper to succeed Mongia in Tests, and the first of a series of keepers who were better with the bat than with gloves.

A freakish eye injury Karim received from a Kumble delivery in Bangladesh's 1st ever Test match unfortunately ended his career in late 2000. That incident also triggered off a never ending procession of keeping prospects. They came, they kept, and they kept changing.

Samir Dighe was a very good keeper batsman in his younger days. Many in India remember him as a dynamic and gutsy cricketer playing a gem of a finishing knock in an exhibition match played in English territory against arch rivals Pakistan during the no-Sharjah days of Indo-Pak cricket [early 90's]. However it was pretty late in the day when he won a post-Karim Test selection and, barring a crucial finishing act with the bat (ahem..) in a famous one wicket win over Australia during the 2001 home series, Dighe did not prove to be adequate.

Ajay Ratra was picked for a very short duration in early 2002 before being dumped for the 17 year old Parthiv Patel. Parthiv Patel promised much in his first year and then petered away with the gloves, all the while improving with the bat. Dinesh Karthik succeeded Parthiv and looked the best Indian gloveman amongst the boys that donned the gloves in this millenium.

Unfortunately for Dinesh his half-year stay in the Indian team coincided with a low phase of Indian cricket and the emergence of an explosive batsman named Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who could also keep in one-dayers. Karthik, inspite of decent glovework and gutsy shows with the bat in Test matches, got replaced first from the 50 over side and then from the Test matches.

At the best of times Mahendra Singh Dhoni does standard work against fast bowling, impressing more in Tests than one dayers. However he can sometimes be the proverbial English batsman on the wrong side of the stumps with the spinners bowling. At present India look ready to pay for it over a limited duration in the hope of and as an investment into a glorious future, one where Dhoni improves his keeping from continued exposure to quality spinners and provides India the extra leverage afforded by Adam Gilchrist to his side.

Nothing wrong with that, except that Dhoni must win a battle in his mind before getting to the next step to 'Gilchristhood'. It is no mean task to remember at all times his real role when wearing whites, which is quite different and less glamorous than the way Indian press and cricket lovers love to portray his image as a bat wielding Rambo. Dhoni appears to be owner of a level head for now, but roads are known to be slippery for someone on a fast track to stardom in India.

For starters Dhoni would do well the remember that Gilchrist does not care retorting to even the greatest criticism of his unconventional batting methods but even a word of curtness about his keeping is enough to change the expression of his face. Dhoni needs to likewise remember that rather than an established middle order bat who can keep wickets, he is needed more as the aspiring Test wicketkeeper who can bat. Those small white pads are decidedly less charismatic, but his team needs him to shine in them.

In the eventuality of Dhoni not passing muster, India may have to revert back to Dinesh Karthik, which may not be necessarily a bad step. Karthik has the makings of a decent-keeper-gutsy-bat, if not a Gilchrist, and that should do for a start.

What would that make of Dhoni? Do we suggest dropping him? Far from it, he can be the greatest no. 6 ever to play for India.

[to be concluded.....Phew!]