LACK OF STOCK

No caretaker of wicketkeeping resources

by Arani Basu • Last updated on

"We even need wicketkeeping coaches who can travel with the team and get the glovemen ready before the first game on an away tour." © Getty

The back-up wicket-keeper in Indian cricket remains as elusive as it was 15 years ago, when MS Dhoni had arrived as a soothing balm for the selectors' headache. Now, every time selectors fall back on Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik or are questioned about the tenability of an ageing Dhoni in limited-overs cricket, the 'this-is-the-best-we've-got' alibi pops up.

The question to be asked then is: Do we have enough resources at the back-end? Going by chief selector MSK Prasad's latest statement, the answer is a disturbing no. "Let me tell you frankly. The boys (earmarked for grooming) are not up to the levels we expect. We'll keep giving them chances in the India 'A' series," Prasad had said while announcing the ODI team for South Africa last month.

The next line -- after the nearly 33-year-olds Patel and Karhtik -- comprises mainly of Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson. Few doubt the batting potential of these boys but even fewer can vouch for their capabilities behind the stumps. The system to identify and groom wicketkeepers is clearly challenged here.

"There's no one to help wicketkeepers in India," said former India wicketkeeper and chief selector Kiran More. More has been assigned to conduct a once-in-a-year 10-day camp at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) over the last two years.

"That's not enough. You ought to have people assigned to monitor their growth in domestic games. Video footage is available but no one to monitor and help these boys," More told TOI.

WV Raman and Narendra Hirwani, batting and spin bowling coaches at the NCA, travel around the country during the Ranji Trophy season.

But no one keeps track of the 'keepers. "We even need wicketkeeping coaches who can travel with the team and get the glovemen ready before the first game on an away tour," More suggested.

This is the age of the batsman-wicketkeeper and not the other way round. The big-money IPL contracts force the youngsters to harness batting as their primary skill. According to another former wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta, Wriddhiman Saha's emergence as an immaculate glovesman, has highlighted the value of the wicketkeeper-batsman.

"The mindset has to change. You can't encourage the idea of 'we are fine till you keep scoring runs'. You need scouts for 'keepers," Dasgupta said as he went on to voice another discomforting observation: "At the moment one comes to know about a wicketkeeper only through the media. Only those who score runs come up as wicketkeeping prospects. People were even talking about KL Rahul keeping wickets for India"

Pant, for instance, was blooded into the Indian T20 squad on the basis of his dominating run with the bat in the Ranji Trophy last season. As his form dipped on the A' tours, he fell off the radar and his inconsistency with the bat became the worrying issue for the selectors and the followers of the game. Few talk to him about the improvements required in his wicketkeeping skill-set. "Somebody needs to question the process. Why somebody like a Pant or Samson is taking time?" Vijay Dahiya, former India stumper, reckoned. "Once you are branded as an OKwicketkeeper and a good batsman for T20s and ODIs, it becomes difficult to come out of it," Dahiya talks about the stereotypes a modern-day wicketkeeper in India has to deal with. This disease has now become chronic with Saha's sudden injury in South Africa opening up the debate.

More dared to try out Dhoni, Patel and Karthik during his tenure as a chief selector. And none of them came with a great deal of reputation and experience of 'keeping in first-class cricket. "The selectors could have sent someone young as an understudy in the first place. But I do feel they were not wrong in naming Karthik because you need experience at this point of the series," he said.

While the BCCI can revisit its programme for wicketkeepers, More wants a solution at the moment for the senior team. "You need a specialized wicketkeeping coach in the team. They are left all to themselves abroad."

© TNN