'Being a natural is a pre-requisite'

By S. Dinakar

CHENNAI, MAY 6. Syed Kirmani loves to tell the story. The year is '76, and Kensington Oval, Barbados, the venue. B.S. Chandrasekar, the magical leggie, has the ball in his hands, Vivian Richards, the destroyer, takes strike.

Chandra delivers, Richards goes forward, the ball whistles past the stunned West Indian's nose, and Kirmani, standing up, makes a gathering above his shoulder. Viv, chewing gum, tells Kiri, ``Wow, that was as fast as Thommo man.'' Kirmani smiles.

Yet, the point here is not just Chandra's speed - his quicker ball was faster than most - it was also about a wicket- keeper's anticipation, his lightning reflexes.

Yes, Kirmani was a natural in every sense of the term. Someone born to 'keep wickets. `A Clear and Present Danger' to the batsmen, all the time.

Kirmani believes the standard of 'keeping in the country has dropped since the 'keepers who followed him were not naturals. ``There is a lack of an in-born ability.''

``Not every 'keeper can fly. Some are gifted with that ability. Every human being has his limitations. These 'keepers have theirs,'' says Kirmani in an exclusive interview to The Hindu.

Well, he could really take off. Like he did when he conjured that astonishing catch down the leg-side to dismiss Mudassar Nazar off Kapil Dev in the Chennai Test of '79. The Pakistani had produced a seemingly boundary-bound leg-glance, and walked back rubbing his eyes in disbelief!

Kirmani flew down the leg-side in the Ahmedabad Test of '83 to pouch Desmond Haynes, Kapil again being the bowler, only to see the umpire turn down the vociferous appeal even as the West Indian was removing his gloves. ``It was a treacherous wicket, there were holes, and we could play marbles you know!,'' recalls Kirmani. The best catch he never took!

Ingredients of success formula

What are the ingredients that go into the making of a top-notch wicket-keeper? Pat comes the answer. ``Natural athleticism, vision, reflexes, anticipation, concentration, flexibility, temperament, the ability to dive...'' One of the toughest jobs on a cricket field.

The Karnataka cricketer observes a qualified 'keeper should be assigned the task of spotting wicket-keepers in the country and provided the opportunity to groom them. ``There was a problem in the identification of talent. No proper guidelines were set.''

Here, he feels, the very idea of picking a batsman who could also 'keep is a wrong one. ``It is a specialist job. If a player is impeccable with his 'keeping, he can always develop his batting.''

And Kirmani, with his trademark slash-drive, had come up with several brave innings for India at the crunch (2,759 Test runs, ave. 27.04). A pillar of strength down the order, the kind of player India is searching for desperately now. Yet, he was a 'keeper before anything else.

Kirmani, in Chennai these days as the head-coach of NCA's South Zone Academy adds, ``a batsman sees an opening for a 'keeper in the side, and then tells himself, `let me try my hand as a batsman-keeper.' It's become easy.''

The ace stumper observes some of the 'keepers these days lacked discipline and a long-term commitment to the game. ``They want quick results. They are not willing to wait and work. To run fast, you have to jog first, build your speed and stamina.''

Sadanand Viswanath happens to be the most talented Indian 'keeper he has seen, but then, it was a career of unfulfilled promises. ``He could have been the best, broken all records,'' reveals Kirmani, unable to hold back his disappointment.

He is not in favour of having different 'keepers for Tests and One-dayers. ``If someone is good enough for Tests, he should definitely find a place in the One-day eleven. 'Keeping should always come first.''

Kirmani feels the quality of wicket-keeping in general has come down from time men like Allan Knott, Bob Taylor, Rodney Marsh (rather modestly he doesn't talk about himself here) ruled the roost. ``Today's 'keepers lack copy-book technique. They are side-on, tend to gather the ball away from their body, on the side.''

He recalls telling the England `A' 'keepers who visited India in the mid-90s that their `side-on' method was a far from happy one. ``They told me it helped their gathering on the off-side, I asked them what about the leg-side? They certainly lost a fraction of a second there.

``When you have Allan Knott and Bob Taylor as an example, why look at the others, I asked then,'' states Kirmani. And some of them wearing helmets these days is a manifestation of ``a lack of technique and confidence,'' according to Kirmani, who adds the visor or the grill hampers the vision.

`Give 'em fair chance and confidence'

Talk to him about so many wicket-keepers picked for India and then discarded in a hurry, and he is quick with an answer. ``A player has to be given confidence. The selectors should tell him that he will be given a run of so many Tests and One-day matches. That is important.'' In other words, the constant changing will only make matters worse.

Despite the rather gloomy scenario, he sees hope. Among the youngsters, Ajay Ratra has impressed the golden great. ``He is promising, and should be given a chance.'' Here, Kirmani stresses that looking at the future would be a better option than going back to the same old names as far as the Indian team was concerned.

It is a job where a man must be willing to take up responsibility. Kirmani says a wicket-keeper should dive for catches in his vicinity on the off-side since he is the one with the gloves, when asked about catches being put down due to the lack of coordination between the wicket-keeper and the slip cordon.

Go back to his days and he will tell you about the challenges of 'keeping to the great Indian spinners on pitches affording turn. ``Standing up to quality spinners is the most demanding task in wicket-keeping.''

Indeed, it is the ultimate challenge and Kirmani came through the Test of fire with his reputation enhanced, effecting brilliant stumpings (he has wonderful hands), and pulling off stunning catches, off both spinners and pacemen.

Kirmani rates England's Bob Taylor as the best 'keeper in his time. ``Allan Knott often got the nod for his batting, but Taylor was the one I admired the most.'' And in contemporary cricket, Adam Gilchirst and Mark Boucher come ahead of the others in Kirmani's books.

Kirmani played more Tests for India (88 matches, 160 catches, 38 stumpings) than any other 'keeper, yet, is bitter about the manner he was hounded out of the National side in the mid- eighties. ``They just did not want to look at me.''

He has still not announced his retirement, and the National selectors have an option if they run out of all the contenders. Syed Kirmani is still around!

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