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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