CHENNAI: Junior Dala. No, that’s not fabricated name that has deliberately been laced with Hindi-based innuendo. The medium-pacer — along with Heinrich Klaasen — was handed his first T20I cap by South Africa on Sunday, during their first clash against India at the Wanderers.
Much in line with Vision 2019, the Proteas have been magnanimous in giving greenhorns a run, be it Lungi Ngidi, Klaasen, or even Aiden Markram’s elevation to skipper level.
India too have shown similar generosity over the past few years. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, and a bevy of newcomers — be they willow-wielders or bowlers — have been integrated into the side, augmenting bench strength quite considerably.
With “2019 World Cup” being the think-tank’s current operating keyword, they seem to have their reserve bases covered, be it with ball or bat. But, one area of the field still seems to be untouched in this regard: behind the stumps.
“Wicket-keeping is a very key area when it comes to success. If you look at the previous World Cups, keepers in their prime have been key to successful campaigns for their teams, be it Adam Gilchrist or Kumar Sangakkara. These guys have won the trophy for their teams,” remarked former India wicket-keeper and selection committee chairman Kiran More.
His form with the bat may have waned, but there is no doubt regarding the gauntlet-donning adroitness of MS Dhoni. The stumper’s reflexes, innovation (a no-look run-out and football-keeping are cases in point), and even on-field advice are stellar.
But, what does India’s management do when Murphy decides to inflict an injury on Dhoni, especially during or just before the World Cup?
Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, and Sanju Samson are a few names that come to the mind as possible solutions, in turn revealing the true nature of this problem.
The former, despite being in the scheme of things for England next year, has been treated as a specialist batsman rather than a wicket-keeper. His domestic stints with Tamil Nadu and Indian Premier League outings with gloves on notwithstanding, the last time Karthik stood behind the stumps in a blue jersey was in March 2014, against Afghanistan during the Asia Cup.
Pant and Samson, on the other hand, are yet to cut their teeth in the one-day format. Even the T20Is that feature their name on the scorecard (Pant has two, and Samson one) saw them make appearances as out-and-out batsmen.
To further underscore this issue, here’s a statistic. The last time India had a stumper whose jersey number was not 7 was 53 ODIs ago, on July 14, 2015, when Robin Uthappa did the honours against Zimbabwe in Harare.
More, though, felt that this won’t spiral into a cause for concern for the Men in Blue, while going on to add that a few young back-ups were in the process of spreading their wings at the India A level.
“In terms of keeping options, I think we’re sorted for the World Cup. We have Karthik, Parthiv (Patel), and even Pant. I feel Pant should be given more opportunities. He’s a quality player, and we need to groom guys who can win matches single-handedly. There are Ishan Kishan and Samson as well.
“Samson, Pant, and Kishan have been getting experience from their India A tours. Samson and Pant have been a part of the IPL as well. All three went to South Africa. There’s another England tour coming up now, and there are plans to send the players in early. The think-tank has its eyes on this, and I think they’ve got their processes covered. There seems to be good thinking and forward planning involved. They seem to be on the right track.”
rahulravi@newindianexpress.com
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