Keeping wicket to wicket

It's also always good to have a strong reserve bench. But perhaps it is not quite as good to having to rely too much on the bench strength, owing to flagging faith on the prospective regulars, 'too-much-cricket' notwithstanding.

Indian wicketkeeping is a classic case in point. Has there been any substantially regular wicketkeeper in the Indian national side after Syed Kirmani, with the sole exception of Kiran More and Nayan Mongia to some extents? Wicketkeepers are expected to be more regular than others in a team. This is a specialist's position, demanding exception physical fitness and extraordinary concentration. Other players in a team get noticed when do something, usually good, but being paid attention to is something that many wicketkeepers wouldn't always desire. This is because, wicketkeepers are, by default, expected to pick up every deliver that goes behind the wickets, with or without edges. And when there is too much talking doing rounds in the air on a wicketkeeper, more often than not it’s either for non-wicketkeeping issues, like batting, or non-wicketkeeping, or both.

A number of wicketkeepers are at the focus of flashlights and spotlights these days. Adam Gilchrist, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Mark Boucher, Brendan McCullum are a few. The list, for all practical purposes, does seem to be quite long, considering each team is supposed to have only one man keeping wickets, and despite earnest efforts of the International Cricket council (ICC), only a handful of teams from across the world are worth featuring at the highest levels of competitive international cricket.

But, all those named are more talked about for their blasts with the bat. When an Adam Gilchrist or a Mark Boucher, or even a Dinesh Kaarthick 'flies like a bird and catches the ball out of thin air', as Navjot Singh Sidhu would like it to put it,... perhaps..., people go ga-ga over it, only to get it gush out of the mind as soon as the bowler is back to the top his mark for the next delivery. But when a Parthiv Patel makes heavy weather of a dolly and bites dust lying prostrate on the turf, people fume and froth. The same lot, however, celebrates Parthiv hitting Bret Lee for a six. They also celebrate Laxmipathy Balaji treating Shoaib Akhtar in much the similar manner. But both Parthiv and Balaji are out of the reckoning for failing to do what they are supposed to - keeping wickets and taking wickets respectively…

With the exit of Kirmini came up Sadanand Vishwanath. Though his performance in World Championship of Cricket tournament in Australia and the Rothmans Cup in Sharjah in 1985, did give the Indian cricket fans something to be in 'anand', soon things turned sad for him and his fans. Chandrakant Pandit was another flash in the pan, trying to catch the India bus through the Assam route for some time, before bidding adieu. Kiran More was a sound enough custodian for long, taking care of Kapil and Kumble at considerable ease.

With Kiran fading and him being unable to continue any more, came in Vijay Yadav. He fell before his 'Vijay'flag could find a firm footing. Nayan Mongia was the new kid on the block. Diving around was not his forte, but he was as agile on his feet as he was chirpy. 'caught Mongia bowled Kumble' became a regular entry in scorecards in both forms of the game. 'Safe', 'reliable' are some of the words that you could attach with this man from Baroda, the Ranji Trophy side that thus became known for producing quality 'keepers like More and Mongia, as it is now getting increasing recognition for delivering medium pacers like Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan and Rakesh Patel. Just when Mongia was paying off as a long-term investment, with him shining with the bat - as an opener, a pinch-hitter, a sheet-anchor, a foil to a finisher - came the betting scandal, with Nayan weeping in a world of woes. Commentaries and expert opinions are all that he's considered good to provide, with coaching Thailand once in a while.

Post-Mongia, the search for wicketkeeper almost caught up with the search for openers, so much so that 'Test discard' (as if to say, he wasn't discarded from ODIs) Vikram Rathode - so far so good or bad as an opener started keeping wickets at the domestic circuit. Mannava Sri Kanth Prasad, Vijay Dahiya, Sameer Dighe, Ajay Ratra came in and went out. All were good batsmen and unreliable wicketkeepers. While Samir Dighe, along with Harbhajan Singh, sealed a historic home series win against Australia in 2001, Ajay Ratra scored a gritty unbeaten 115 against the Caribbeans at the latter's den the following year. Statistics don't reveal how many runs they conceded.

Parthiv, looking younger than how young he was when he played for India, could not prove behind the woodwork an aota of the reliability that he earned in front. Though he thankfully received an extended run in Tests, he was shown the door for good. Unless both the current custodians Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Kaarthick fall apart, if not in form then with injury - which even the bitterest cynic of Indian cricket is not likely to desire, it's difficult for Parthiv to get another look-in in the near future.

Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid, who had outwitted Saeed Anwar into losing his wicket to him, was going from strength to strength donning the big gloves for Team India in the shorter version of the game. An epitome of reliability with the bat, he was wonderful behind the wickets as well; he just underscored what devotion and determination can achieve for a person. With 15 catches and 1 stumping, he went on to become the wicketkeeper with the third highest number of dismissals in the ICC World Cup 2003, next only to Gilchrist and Sangakkara.

Post-World Cup 2003, it has been a see-saw between Dhoni and Kaarthick. While the latter continued in Tests, with Dhoni taking over in ODIs, it was soon Dhoni dhamaka all over. Dhoni's blitzkrieg with the bat with enviable average and strike rate, made opposition bowlers and Kaarthick go clueless. However, with the opposition laptop coaches starting to make life for Dhoni just a shade difficult, the national selectors were wise enough to consider Kaarthick for the tour of South Africa as a lead up to the ICC World Cup 2007. The latter got the nod more as a batsman, ahead of Coach Greg Chappell's favourite Suresh Raina in particular, than as a back-up for Dhoni behind the stumps. Kaarthick obliged in all the three forms of the game, especially as an opener weathering the storm of Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini and company, and more.

The result was that India, which barely managed Dravid as the first-choice 'keeper ahead of specialist Parthiv Patel in World Cup 2003, went to West Indies with two specialist 'keepers in the form of Dhoni and Kaarthick, to go with a couple more part-timers, captain Dravid and opener Robin Uthappa.

The current situation is perhaps the best that can possibly happen to Indian cricket as far as wicketkeeping is concerned. Dhoni is there as the wicketkeeping allrounder and Kaarthick is following suit in the same mould. They are regularly featuring together in the final eleven. Kaarthick is a livewire in the infield, which not many wicketkeepers are used to being. He's doing justice to his domestic cricket reputation of being a fine batsman, by quickly graduating as a no-nonsense Test opener and a more than handy lower middle order batsmen in the shorter versions. Dhoni, now the ODI vice-captain, is thus being given a breather. The national selectors as also the team think-tank are growing up for sure.