The Hindu : Sport : Only one keeper should play

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Friday, May 25, 2007
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Only one keeper should play

Laxman has never got his due from the cricketing establishment, writes Mohinder Amarnath

India must have hoped for a big win in the first Test, but rain played spoilsport, as it will at this time of the year, so it is now down to this final game at Mirpur.

I am amazed that V.V.S. Laxman has once again failed to find a place in the side. Laxman has never got his due from the cricketing establishment, and a batsman of his calibre should never be kept out in favour of a part-timer like Dinesh Karthik.

No sense

From the beginning, it has made no sense to me to have two wicketkeepers in the side. You must either decide to go with M.S. Dhoni or Karthik. If you go with Dhoni, as we appear to be doing, Karthik cannot go on playing as a batsman. Not only will this confuse him regarding his role, but also hamper his keeping skills in the long run.

As it is, the Indian board seems to have perfected the art of taking along new faces on a tour and not playing them. There's nothing wrong in a junior player sitting out or playing only the warm-up games, because he can learn a lot by travelling with the seniors. But the problem with the Indian think-tank is that with almost every new series, we see one or two new players emerging and end up as paid passengers.

Long-term plan needed

We really need a long-term plan for the future. The board should pick three or four new players, and stick with them for a couple of series. This will give confidence to them to perform at the highest level.

This is what grooming new talent means to me. If we are to look for suitable replacements for Kumble, Ganguly, Tendulkar and Dravid, this is the policy we need to adopt.

India will find the going tough in England if the best team is not picked. And that means picking a player like Laxman, at the expense of dropping the superfluous elements.

Gameplan

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