India should groom wicketkeepers

The zest possessed by youngsters for a highly specialised job needs to be nurtured by Indian cricket in order to achieve success in Test cricket away from home.

September 03, 2015 03:09 am | Updated March 28, 2016 03:09 pm IST

When Dhoni played all forms of the game a generation of wicket-keepers had to sit at home. File Photo

When Dhoni played all forms of the game a generation of wicket-keepers had to sit at home. File Photo

The recent retirement of M.S. Dhoni from Tests has brought to surface an issue that has been brewing in Indian cricket for some time now; but had remained out of sight due to the presence of the former Test captain himself.

Makarand Waingankar

There are two jobs in cricket which are thankless. One is that of the selector and the other is that of the wicketkeeper. It is important to nurture environments for both to do a good job.

There were times when selectors for the Indian team picked specialised wicket-keepers such as Naren Tamhane and Nana Joshi, who weren’t capable of contributing with the bat. When Farokh Engineer and Budhi Kunderan arrived on the scene they were preferred because of their batting.

By opening the innings, Engineer created an extra slot for a batsman who could be an allrounder. With the advent of limited-overs cricket, this almost became the mandatory role of the wicketkeeper.

When Dhoni played all forms the game a generation of wicket-keepers had to sit at home. However, had the selectors rested him in inconsequential matches, India would have groomed a good wicketkeeper by now.

Currently, because of Saha’s injury, his replacement 32-year-old Naman Ojha is a keeper whose ability with the willow exceeds his ability behind the stumps. Young and experienced Parthiv Patel would have been a better choice.

Historically, even on away tours selectors picked only one ‘keeper. On the 1985 tour of Sri Lanka, Sadanand Vishwanath was the lone ‘keeper in the team.

On the 1990 tour of New Zealand too, Kiran More was the lone specialised wicketkeeper, with V. B. Chandrashekhar as a substitute ‘keeper. Kiran More said that he would not have had issues with selection, had the tour been of a neighbouring country but to take one ‘keeper to New Zealand had been risky.

A crucial factor to consider is that nowadays a team has to bowl 90 overs a day and if the opponents bat out the entire day, the player who tires and tends to lose concentration the most is the wicketkeeper.

Apart from the obvious risk of burning out, healthy competition drives quality in all sports at the international level. This is the advantage of having two ‘keepers in the squad.

In the 1964 Test match against England in Chennai, on the morning of the first Test, Engineer was injured in the nets. Kunderan replaced him. Kunderan went on to score over 500 runs in the series.

Even when ‘keepers are picked for their batting prowess along with their wicket-keeping technique, competition within a team cannot be ignored. This is crucial to sustaining quality.

Sometimes victory in the present can be a sight so beautiful that it inhibits our vision for the future. This makes success unsustainable.

In this context, vice-president of the Mumbai Cricket Association Dilip Vengsarkar and the head coach of the MCA Academy Chandrakant Pandit invited Kiran More, to hold a two-week workshop for ‘keepers in the 14-19 age group. There were some brilliant young wicketkeepers on view; with one 14-year-old saying, “I love keeping wickets, not batting.”

The zest possessed by youngsters for a highly specialised job needs to be nurtured by Indian cricket in order to achieve success in Test cricket away from home. Otherwise, we will continue to struggle.

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