By: Ganesh Sovani
ganesh_sovani@rediffmail.com
October 28, 2004

After one of the most horrible wicket keeping display ever made by him on the first day of Nagpur Test against Australia, the days of Parthiv Patel seems to be numbered. The manner in which he missed the stumping chances, dropped couple of catches, made late gathering, conceded byes, etc. was all awful to see at.

The way he missed in stumping Michael Clarke of the bowling of Kumble when the batsman was at least two to three feet out of returning crease even that made Kumble to get frustrated and annoyed. Thereafter, he lost an opportunity to take a ‘regulation’ catch again of Michael Clarke of the bowling of Zaheer Khan in eighty -first over, which made the stand-in caption Rahul Dravid just short of fuming. His over all performance on the first day of third Test against Australia are sufficient to cast serious doubt on diminutive keeper’s not only reflexes, but eye sight as well.

The moot point that is to blame for this tamasha? Though I have never supported or written in favour of Parthiv, I am ready to exonerate him and I feel that the blame should squarely be put on our national selectors and also on the Indian media as well.

Can any one recollect, that when India was touring England in the summer of 2002, after Caribbean tour the Indian cricket scribes were simply enamoured by the wicket keeping done by the then sixteen year old chap in the nets and in some county matches. He was chosen as a deputy to Delhi’s Ajay Ratra on the twin tour and before that had played couple of under – 16 tournaments. Our touring media scribes, were virtually carried away with his exhibition in the tour games and also in the practice sessions. The Parthiv hype was pitched so high that the Indian team management literally was induced to include him in the 2nd Test at Old Trafford in place of Ajay Ratra. There is no denying of the fact that in his debut, he not only kept wicket quite well, but also contributed with the bat, which made him earn the accolades from English keeper Alec Stewart and from the British media as well.

His debut had created tremendous amount of curiosity both in England as well as at home. When he played his maiden Test at such a teen-age that he was not even holding his driving licence, as he had not attained the majority.

That apart, but Parthiv Patel has a unique distinction of playing his maiden Test even as he had not played a single three day fixture, i.e. Raniji trophy matches in the domestic circuit back home, leave alone five day Irani trophy or Duleep trophy matches. In nutshell, he was straight jacketed in the Indian Test team, without testing his ability to stand behind the stumps for a rigorous five day game. How ridiculous this experiment our selectors dared to do?

Since then, India has been so much involved in the Test and one – dayers around the world, that he had very little time to play in the domestic championship in India. Though selected as a deputy to stand by keeper Rahul Dravid, Patel was selected for World Cup - 2002, but could not get an opportunity to play even a single game.

Though he has batted quite well at times, more so against Aussies at Sydney, which was incidentally Steve Waugh’s bid-adieu game, his keeping standard has always created rumblings in the media. The manner in which he kept wickets against visiting Kiwis at Chandigarh in 2003, the people were virtually aghast with his keeping techniques. The repeated television replays showed, not just him, but also our selectors in poor light, as to the manner in which they hurriedly select someone in the team without testing his potential.

In any cricket playing country abroad, a player is sufficiently tried and tested in the domestic circuit and then brought into team. Does any one remember that Adam Gilchrist made his Test debut, when he was already thirty plus. ? He could not get an opportunity earlier as Ian Healy was doing quite well. Therefore, the Australian selectors preferred to test his Western Australian keeper’s potential in ODIs, ahead of the five day games. Gilchrist had shown his exceptional qualities in early games itself, which facilitated him to get entry in Aussie Test team.

In the present touring Kangaroo team, the visitors have brought Brad Hodge as a deputy to Adam Gilchrist and he too is thirty plus and has scored more than 10,000 runs in first class cricket. As long as Gilchrist does not hang his boots, Hodge will have to cool his heels. Look at their professional approach and look at our sentimental approach.

A perfect keeper significantly contributes for the success of the bowler. Both Dennis Lillie and Jeff Thompson attribute their success unhesitatingly to Rodney Marsh. So also West Indian speedsters like Roberts, Holding, Garner, Marshall, Walsh could excel in their bowling qualities, due to the fantastic efforts made by Jeoff Dujon behind the stumps. Ian Healy is always held high by McDermott, Merve Hughes, Bruce Reid, etc. in late eighties and early nineties. Thereafter, Healy is greatly responsible for the success of McGrath and Shane Warne. How can any one deny that?

Our bowlers could have achieved more success had our selectors persisted with the policy of retaining a keeper for a sufficient period of time. Do you know that India has played as many as ten keepers in the last six or seven cricket seasons? It starts with Nayan Mongia, followed by Saba Karim, Vijay Dahia, Vijay Yadav, Deep Dasgupta, Sameer Dighe, Ajay Ratra, Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Kartik and last and not the least Rahul Dravid ! That makes just one player short of a team consisting of eleven players.

Parthiv Patel’s case is a classic example, wherein our cricket selectors just fall into the trap in the form of media hype made by cricket scribes and fly-by-night cricket experts or commentators. But in the ultimate process, the Indian team has suffered. One ‘life’ or ‘chance’ given by a keeper can cost the team dearly, no matter how much he compensates subsequently by contributing with his bat?

One fears that Parthiv might be playing last Test of his career, as to make a come back requires a Herculean effort. One wonders, whether he has an ability to do that?

Kiran More & Co. are you listening?

Ganesh Sovani

(The author is Mumbai based journalist - turned - advocate having considerable amount of experience in various fields in writing. He can be contacted at ganesh_sovani@rediffmail.com)