The trend these days is to take only one wicketkeeper on a tour

Santhosh S04-Aug-2001The trend these days is to take only one wicketkeeper on a tour. Buttwo former Indian cricketers Erapalli Prasanna and Syed Kirmani arefirmly of the opinion that a second stumper is a must for every Indiantouring squad. CricInfo caught up with the two in Bangalore as soon asthe Indian Test team for the three Test series in Sri Lanka wasannounced. Besides the issue of the second wicketkeeper, both Prasannaand Kirmani aired their views on the selection .Prasanna’s first reaction was, “I am rather disappointed because ofthe fact that we still have only keeper to start with. A second keeperwould have got to know the environment of the team, attitude andaptitude of the senior players, which is a part acclimitisation andinduction.”The former spin great felt that there are two good wicket-keepers inDeep Das Gupta and Ajay Ratra, who also happens to be in the NCA. “Iwould have been happy to see one of them in the squad. My choice willbe Das Gupta. He is a better bat, a competent keeper and above all anatural athlete. To top it all, Das Gupta could also open theinnings.”Prasanna was of the view that a young player like Vinayak Mane who hadgone to Australia on the Border-Gavaskar scholarship and attended acamp at the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy in Adelaide should havegot a place in the team. However, he was happy to see Mohd Kaif backin the squad. He said, ” I was one who has been advocating for him. Itis just a matter of faith and trust. He will also come through likeShewag and Yuvraj for he is a very promising player.The former Indian off spinner was of the view that the team doesn’tneed eight batsmen in a squad of sixteen, given the fact that theIndian batting line up is fairly settled. As for recalling VenkateshPrasad, he said, “he is a good bowler. But it is not a progresivemove. It is a regressive move. I would have inducted youngsters.Salabh Srivastava and Swapnil Hazare are two young fast bowlers in theNCA and they are capable of stepping in and delivering the goods."Prasanna felt that young players should be promoted and help add thebench strength of the side. “We wasted the opportunity in the Zimbabweseries, now we have lost it again in Sri Lanka.”On the spinning front, he was happy with Sairaj Bahutule, who hadspent almost three weeks at the NCA after the Zimbabwe series and hasdeveloped his skills. However, Prasanna couldn’t hide hisdisappointment of not seeing Sarandeep Singh in the squad. “He shouldhave been in the squad ever since his debut. He should have been inthe Test series against Australia, in Zimbabwe and now, for he is asgood as Harbhajan Singh.”Kirmani was happy to see Prasad make a comeback and said that this wasa balanced team. He added, “If you were to ask me, the promisingplayers from the ODIs should have been in the Test series as well.”Kirmani’s only area of concern was wicket-keeping, which is synonymouswith his name. He said, “I have always been of the opinion that thereshould be two wicket-keepers. Why I emphasise on this is you are sortof nursing an understudy. I will not want to risk a key player likeRahul Dravid.”I think Ajay Ratra should have got the nod and he should be in theteam along with Dighe. You have to look ahead, to the future. So muchtalent and promise is coming into the forefront. You have to encourageall these lads. If you are looking back, you are not doing justice tothe kids."I have seen Ratra from close quarters. He was the India Under-19scaptain and is a natural keeper with good temperament. Ratra shouldhave been in the side in the first place.” Kirmani was quick to addthat Dighe is getting better with each game."As for selection of the Indian side, Kirmani was of the view that mostmembers of the squad pick themselves and the selectors have to pickonly a handful. He was of the view that any player selected to thesquad should be given a probation period of four or six innings. Thiswill help the youngsters to play their natural game without thepressures of failure, for every player has it in the back of his mindthat he could be dropped.