Former Indian wicket-keeper Syed Kirmani lauds on Indian cricket team’s performances on the ongoing South Africa tour where they have produced the developing and dominating performances with the times going on. After losing the Test series by the 2-1 margin, India clinched the ODI series by the 1-5 margin and also won the first T20I of the three-match T20I series.
Talking about the abilities of Indian cricket team, Syed Kirmani told PTI over the phone, “Before they (the team) could get acclimatized to the conditions in South Africa, they lost the Test series. They, however, bounced back well and showed their capabilities in the ODIs and won it. It was a great comeback by the team to show their real potential and talent and win the one-day series.”
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Talking about some present criticism on the former Indian world cup winning captain MS Dhoni’s performance, Kirmani pointed out the positive side of Dhoni’s performance by quoting, “It is all about results. Those who are criticising Dhoni about his keeping and batting are not aware that he has produced results everywhere. That is the trend these days, we don’t want technique, but we want results.”
Kirmani added, ”He (Dhoni) has taken the country to the top in all the formats, led from the front. Also, he has been a great ambassador for the country and has all the credentials of a great leader. So why talk about his technique, when he has produced results.”
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The 68-year old former Indian wicket-keeper also pointed out the present norm of cricket where a batting specialist wicket-keeper is more important rather than the specialist wicket-keeper. The former right-handed wicketkeeper-batsman said, “Since the inception of ODIs, the emphasis has been on the inclusion of a batsman who can keep wickets so that another all-rounder can be included in the team. Rahul (Dravid) donned the role of keeper till the 2003 World Cup. This is continuing all over the world now. Specialist keeper is no longer the norm.”
India’s first cricket world-cup winning wicket-keeper also added that India has also additional wicketkeepers who have good qualities too. Talking about them, Kirmani said, “Saha, Karthik, Parthiv, Naman Ojha are there. They are all equally good. Whoever shows consistency and delivers gets the opportunity. They could be rotated depending on that.”
Besides that, Kirmani also praised the young Indian wicket-keepers like Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson.
