Dravid for wicket-keeper!
Piyush Goyal - 30 May 2002
Whenever a suggestion of Rahul Dravid keeping wicket is mooted, it
immediately draws much criticism. He is dubbed the principal batsman
of the team, and experts aver that it would not be fair to expect him
to perform both in front of and behind the stumps.
But Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Mongia and Yuvraj Singh have established
themselves fairly well by now, and with veteran stroke-makers like
Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman in the fray as well,
Dravid no longer has a claim to being the most important batsman. Six
out of 10 times in one-day internationals, in fact, he is blamed for
going into a shell and struggling to rotate the strike.
Also, with Dravid behind the sticks only for the one-day game, the
physical burden on Dravid will not be too great; Adam Gilchrist, Alec
Stewart and Andy Flower should be able to testify to that. In fact,
the presence of six other world-class stroke-players in the side
should mean that Dravid need not even don batting gear unless there is
a fall of early wickets and his sheet-anchor qualities are in need.
But above all, why does India need Dravid as wicket-keeper? As of now,
they have no stumper who can be regarded as a valuable asset to the
side both in terms of keeping and batting. Dravid is not worse than
Deep Dasgupta behind the stumps, and he can certainly improve if he
starts to keep wicket regularly.
The arrangement would also allow immense flexibility in team
formation. India could play its six batting guns and four bowlers, and
the one-day batting could extend right up to number 10, since Ajit
Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan can all play some shots in
the limited-overs arena. Alternatively, India could play five
specialist batsmen and one all-rounder to strengthen the attack.
I think, therefore, that there is no harm in trying out Dravid behind
the stumps as an experiment in this series. However it will be
successful only if the team management, selectors and Dravid himself
are all on the same wavelength, with their sights focussed firmly on
the World Cup.
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