With Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Parthiv Patel and a couple of other wicketkeepers who can bat a bit, India are not short of options for the Test Match wicketkeepers slot. This is quite a change from the dark days of Deep Dasgupta and MSK Prasad - the tail began and number 7 and really lived up to its name. As with most choices though, this is not an easy one.
Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik are two extremely talent young cricketers - both identified in their teens as potential India players - Patel as a member of the Indian U-19 side, and Dinesh Karthik with his many Tendulkaresque appearances in marquee domestic games a few years ago. It has been the Indian way to pick a special player and make sure that he gets an opportunity to be tested against the best that India has to offer. Tendulkar was picked for the Rest of India side just before his selection to the Pakistan tour of 1989. He duly made a fine hundred, and Gursharan Singh, broken arm and all was encouraged to pad up at number 11, in order to give Tendulkar company so that he could reach his hundred. Dinesh Karthik did pretty much the same thing in a Ranji game against Mumbai - scoring a brilliant century when all others around him floundered. For Parthiv Patel, you could point to any one of his teenaged appearances for India as wicket keeper. These are tests - where prodigies are given the opportunity to show that they belong, and more often than not, the eagle eyed Indian selectors have been proven right in their choices.
Parthiv Patel began superbly, but his wicket keeping deteriorated alarmingly and he needed an opportunity to work on his game. Dinesh Karthik has excelled every time he has had a chance, but he seems doomed to have to live in Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s daunting shadow. Dhoni is a once in a generation cricketer - a maverick with his own technique, but with an uncommon ability to read a situation and adapt. He uses his immense strength very cannily and has proved a worthy occupant of the ODI Captaincy.
Dhoni’s recent decision to opt out of the Sri Lanka Test tour is an interesting one. It is also a sign of the times. Dhoni is the ODI captain, but his position in the Test team is less than solid. Dinesh Karthik is technically more reliable with the bat than Mahendra Singh Dhoni is, and with his ability to open the batting, provides India with priceless flexibility. Karthik is also undoubtedly fit enough to keep wicket and open the batting.
A few years ago, it would have been unthinkable for any cricketer to skip a Test series in view of future ODI tournaments. Dhoni’s decision has been called a bold one, but there are two sides to it - the first (and more important) issue is that of Dhoni’s fitness and health. Given the workload with the IPL, ODI and Test Cricket, there is a real risk of player burnout. The other issue is a selection isssue - one of Dhoni’s place in the Test team. If Dinesh Karthik establishes himself as a Test opener and wicketkeeper, it will be hard for Dhoni to return to the Test team. With Virender Sehwag’s appointment as vice-captain of the Test team, the selectors have indicated that Sehwag is very much in the running for the Test Captaincy once Anil Kumble retires (and he undoubtedly will before the end of the decade).
The selectors face a pleasant problem of plenty, but as far as Dhoni goes, while this decision may be an indication of his well crafted priorities, it could yet set his career back. For even though people are beginning to question the relevance of Test Cricket, i don’t think Dhoni’s generation can turn their backs on it and still be taken seriously as cricketers.
I hope Dinesh Karthik makes the most of it.
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