The wicket keeper issue for India has been highlighted in this Test series after Saha’s injury forced Parthiv Patel to take the gloves during the 2nd Test. And while we thought Saha’s injury was temporary, he has now been forced out of the Test series, with Dinesh Karthik being flown in as a replacement.
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Moreover, Saha hasn’t really been that great with the bat, hence rendering the Indian batting a little weak, especially on overseas tours. Every time India toured overseas, MS Dhoni came up with fighting innings down the order, something that Saha hasn’t been able to produce, despite having a very good batting technique.
Also, Parthiv’s wicketkeeping skills have been questionable, with him dropping 3 relatively easy chances during the Test match.
Staggered by Patel’s wicketkeeping performance, Sunil Gavaskar said during the post match show that he would have liked MS Dhoni to carry on as a wicketkeeper batsman in Tests.
“If MSD (Dhoni) wanted to carry on, he could have carried on. Clearly, I think he might have had too much of captaincy (burden). I would have actually liked him to maybe give up captaincy and still stay in the team as wicketkeeper batsman because his advice in the dressing room would have been invaluable. Maybe he thought that the best course for him was to not to be there,” Gavaskar said.
“Parthiv Patel though is a competitive wicketkeeper. He is a little fighter as we can see when he gets the bat in his hand. However, sometimes with the gloves, he can have a little bit of an issue” he said speaking about Parthiv’s credentials as a keeper.
“We saw with that missed opportunity (Elgar on Day 3). If we had gone for it and dropped it, then there would have been no issues. But not going for a catch does make you feel a little bit disappointed,” the Little Master added.
Do you think MS Dhoni should have given up captaincy in Test, but continued as a wicketkeeper-batsman?
Match Situation
India have their backs against the wall, as they go into the final day of the Test with 7 wickets in hand and 252 runs required to win. With Cheteshwara Pujara still at the crease and Pandya, Rohit and Ashwin still to come, India still have some hope with respect to avoiding a loss in this Test match.
