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Rarely has a young cricketer's continued presence in the Indian team attracted such heated discussion. While critics of a variety of hues, belonging to different media, have been baying for Deep Dasgupta's blood, at least one newspaper has headlined a demand for his exclusion. Surprisingly vehement, Ravi Shastri, normally sympathetic to youngsters, has been the most vociferous advocate of the Bengal wicket-keeper's ouster.

While Dasgupta's wicket-keeping has been poor overall, I agree with Sourav Ganguly's assertion that Carl Hooper's snick in the Guyana Test would have taken some catching. It seems unfair to judge the young man on the basis of his first Test duck and the half-chance that might have stopped Hooper on his march to 233.

In his short career, Dasgupta has batted with character and consistency. The moment the selectors picked him and Ajay Ratra for this tour, it became quite clear Dasgupta was first choice because he could also open the innings; further, Ratra's keeping is as yet an unproven quantity, at least in Sunil Gavaskar's opinion. If Ratra has to come in, then the only logical course open to the selectors for the next Test is to make Sanjay Bangar open the innings - unless, of course, they decide to replace the skipper with a regular opener like Wasim Jaffer.

The Dasgupta controversy has, however, served to distract attention from the listless Indian bowling performance. Javagal Srinath was the only bowler to make any impact in the match. The old warhorse was admirably hostile on a wicket that apparently offered nothing to the other Indian bowlers, prepared as he was to bend his back. Sarandeep Singh looked the part of a friendly neighbourhood off-spinner, and Anil Kumble was about as dangerous as Geoffrey Boycott's grandmother's lollipops.

Ravi Shastri has openly stated his preference for a medium- pacer to replace Kumble unless the playing surfaces in the coming Tests promise to aid spinners. The question is whether our spin attack without Harbhajan Singh is capable of inducing snicks and stumpings and, if so, whether we have a wicket-keeper to latch on to them. Unfortunately, the answer to both questions seems to be a sad "No." The strengthening of the pace department with the inclusion of Ashish Nehra seems unavoidable under the circumstances.

India have generally been lucky in the wicket-keeping department, right from the time Syed Kirmani took over as number one stumper, although we have had trouble replacing Nayan Mongia, the subject of a completely different controversy. Before Kirmani, except for five Tests in the West Indies when P Krishnamurti donned the gloves, one of two flamboyant batsmen usually did duty behind the stumps for India.

In the days before television coverage of India's Tests, many of us were under the impression that Farokh Engineer was a top class wicket-keeper, if you overlooked one bad day at the office when he let Australia off the hook at Chepauk from a precarious 24 for six. However, according to some not-so-charitable stories, the Bombay and Lancashire stumper went round to the Press Box in the evenings to nip in the bud any attempt to report chances he had missed! With his not-inconsiderable charm, he would proceed to convince the reporters that those had not been chances at all, or if they had been, they were first slip's and not his.

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