Mongia should be back where he belongs
As if there are not enough problems with the composition of the Indian team, the selectors by their indecisiveness, have added fuel to the fire by meddling with the one spot with which there seemed to be no problem - the wicketkeeper's slot
Partab Ramchand
10-Feb-2000
As if there are not enough problems with the composition of the Indian
team, the selectors by their indecisiveness, have added fuel to the
fire by meddling with the one spot with which there seemed to be no
problem - the wicketkeeper's slot.
Through the years, even as the selectors have played havoc with the
careers of batsmen, bowlers and all rounders, the stumper's slot has
generally remained above controversy. In the early fifties, Probir Sen
was the leading wicketkeeper in the country. For the rest of the
decade, it was either Naren Tamhane or `Nana' Joshi who fitted easily
into the stumper's slot. In the sixties, there was healthy rivalry
between Budhi Kunderan and Farokh Engineer with KS Indrajitsinji
getting a look in only if the two were injured.
Engineer's career lasted in almost uninterrupted fashion till the mid
70s. Following which Syed Kirmani, after a long apprenticeship under
Engineer, succeeded him and was the No 1 choice for a decade. Bharath
Reddy was his understudy for a long time but got a look in only on the
tour of England in 1979 when Kirmani suffered a temporary loss of
form. By the mid 80s, Kiran More who was Kirmani's understudy in the
last few years of the bald pated Karnataka stalwart's career, took
over the wicketkeeper's slot, even though the brilliant but
unpredictable Sadanand Viswanath made a brief bid around the same time
to succeed Kirmani. By the mid 90s, More, after a fairly successful
career which had seen him even rise to the post of vice captain to Md
Azharuddin on the tour of New Zealand in 1990, was starting to show
signs of decline and his Baroda colleague Nayan Mongia succeeded him
in the slot, warding off the challenge from Bengal's Saba Karim.
The point to be noted in all these smooth transitions is that there
has generally been no problem with the wicketkeeper's slot in the
Indian team. But events since the injury to Mongia last year read like
a tragicomic script. MSK Prasad was given the stumper's slot in the
one day tournaments early in the season and he also made his Test
debut against New Zealand. He was not exactly impressive but was still
selected as the sole wicketkeeper for the tour of Australia. This was
plainly asking for trouble on a long tour for Prasad lacked the
experience, dynamism and fitness to carry such a heavy burden for
almost three months. He played in the Test series against Australia
without enhancing his reputation, was asked to pack up and Sameer
Dighe was sent for the Carlton & United Series.
Now where did Dighe come in from suddenly? He wasn't at all in the
reckoning despite being in the India A team. All the while, the other
wicketkeepers seemingly fit to don the India cap were Mongia (who by
now had recovered) and Karim. Mongia in the meantime had been shabbily
treated by the tour management when he was sent by the BCCI as a
replacement for Prasad who was temporarily out of action with an
injury while Karim continued to be among the runs around the domestic
circuit.
As far as wicketkeeping was concerned, there was hardly any difference
between the mediocrity of both Prasad and Dighe and the batting of
both was several grades below international class. In the meantime,
there was another candidate for the stumper's slot in Ajay Ratra, who
emerged as one of the heroes of the victorious campaign by the
under-19 team in the World Cup in Sri Lanka. So now suddenly there
seemed to be a number of candidates for the wicketkeeper's place in
the Indian team. But no, this was not a case of embarrassment of
riches for neither Prasad nor Dighe has filled the bill. His claims
having been ignored for long, Karim's best days are behind him. This
leaves us with Mongia and Ratra. All things considered, now that
Mongia is fit, it would be best to have the 30-year-old experienced
wicketkeeper back where he belongs - as India's No 1 stumper - with
Ratra probably being groomed to take over from him when the situation
arises. That approach would possibly lead Indian cricket back to the
happy times when there was no musical chairs for the wicketkeeper's
slot.