Light at the end of Deep tunnel

Ganesh Krishnamurthy

He stands dejected. His mind wishing that the earth would open up and swallow him whole. There is this sick feeling in his stomach… thousands of spectators are watching him on the ground… and there are millions glued to their television sets. He has fumbled once again.. dropped another 'chance', breathing life yet again into an innings that was destined to die at his very 'hands'. He trudges back to his mark, diffidently encouraging the exasperated bowler, and waits nervously for the next delivery.

This is Deep Dasgupta for you. His selection has only compounded India’s wicket keeping woes that never seem to abate after the unceremonious exit of Nayan Mongia.

After watching his juggling antics behind the wickets I find it hard to believe that he is playing at this level. He should not be the 'first choice keeper' even for a club side in Bengal. His incompetence behind the stumps is highlighted by the lack of elementary technique. Wicket keeping is both, an art and a science, like other facets of this game. Technical errors cannot be rectified within a short period. It requires tremendous practice and dedication to master this art. An ideal wicket keeper is usually blessed with nimble feet and a great pair of hands, coupled with outstanding concentration skills. Deep Dasgupta possesses none of these and I am being very kind to him when I say that his keeping is substandard. True, he has age on his side and can come back very strongly, proving his worst critic wrong… but that would not happen overnight. It would take, maybe, years for him to come to terms with something that does not come naturally to him. His case is like that of a batsman who is technically challenged on all kinds of surfaces.

Deep Dasgupta must go… and Ratra must grace this position… but this does not mean the end of the world for him. Though he has floundered behind the stumps, he has flourished in front of them. If the selectors have an eye for talent then this man would retain his place in the Test side.. not as a keeper… but as an opener. His body language seems to change considerably once he dons gloves of a different make. He seems to be more relaxed and confident… and yes, this has shown in the results that he has produced as an opener.

He has all the attributes that make an ideal opening batsman. His head is still and he gets right on top of the ball. He leaves more often than he plays… a 'Traditional Test Cricket' opener. Opening in Test cricket has been all about consuming time (Hayden and Langer would beg to differ) and he has the ability to wear the opposition bowlers down not with flamboyant stroke play, but with a rock solid defense. Most of all, he is comfortable playing the faster bowlers, something not many Indians are adept at. His handling of Pollock was commendable is South Africa. He may not be a flashy hooker as Kunderan or a flamboyant driver as Engineer but he has in him infinite reserves of concentration when it comes to batting... something that Kunderan and Engineer as batsmen lacked.

I know it would be grave injustice being done to the likes of Jaffer, Gambhir etc if Dasgupta retains his place in the side as an opener… but most discoveries are accidental and, yes, one must admit that his baptism as an opener in the Test team was by default.

If he can hone his batting skill further, vacating his role as a keeper to Ratra then he will definitely be an asset to the Indian Team… which has struggled to find quality openers since Gavaskar's exit.

Finally, there is some light at the end of the 'DEEP' tunnel…

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