by Suliman Baig

 

11 May 2011

 

 

The position of a wicket keeper is vital to the success or failure of a cricket team. Stability at that position is as important as having stability at the captaincy position. It is no coincidence that the most successful teams through cricketing history have had solid and genuine keepers behind the stumps for a length of time, and the lack of a genuine gloveman is often accompanied by mediocrity in the rest of the outfit too.

No surprise then that for the beleaguered Pakistan cricket team the crucial wicket keeper’s position has become as poisoned a chalice as captaincy of the team has been for some time. Everything starts out well but the end is invariably ignominious. It wasn't always thus, of course. In Rashid Latif and Wasim Bari, Pakistan have historically possessed two of the finest wicket-keepers in the world of the post-war era, and arguably, the two best natural glovemen ever from the sub-continent.

There are thus few better qualified to opine on this issue than Rashid Latif; former Pakistan captain, current coach of Afghanistan, thought by many observers to be Pakistan’s finest ever wicket keeper and one of the foremost cricketing experts and coaches in Pakistan. PakPassion.net caught up with Rashid Latif recently for an exclusive discussion on Pakistan's current wicket-keeping travails.

As ever, Rashid was forthright in presenting his views on the Pakistan's 'revolving door' selection policy for wicket-keepers. Pakistan’s newest keeper is Mohammad Salman, and Rashid was full of praise for the debutant. "Salman is absolutely the right choice, and is a very good prospect. He has been playing domestic cricket for a long time and has done well in domestic matches. He deserves a go", he stated.

Mohammad Salman made his First Class debut in 1999 and had to wait for over a decade before finally being given an opportunity at the international level. Rashid had labelled him as the best wicket keeper in domestic cricket on numerous occasions in the past, and it seems his views have not changed.

Salman’s selection for the tour of West Indies came as surprise to fans and the media alike. Veteran wicket keeper Kamran Akmal was expected to be dropped after a poor showing at the World Cup but the expected replacements were Adnan Akmal, his own brother, or Sarfraz Ahmed. Sarfraz has been the top performing wicket keeper in the domestic circuit for some time and has shined with both bat and gloves. His exclusion from the squad raised more questions as to what criteria were used by the selection panel for selecting players.

Rashid shared these frustrations. "Nobody ever talks about Sarfraz. He should have been the one sent to the UAE once Zulqernain Haider left the team", he opined. Instead, Zulqernain was replaced by Adnan Akmal. Adnan went on to play four Test matches for Pakistan and did a commendable job with the gloves. The PCB in turn continued its trend of inexplicably dropping players, and thus Adnan was replaced with Mohammad Salman for the West Indies tour.

Rashid was also left bemused by the selectorial inconsistencies. "Salman is probably the better wicket keeper right now but you have to take into account the performance at the domestic level. Sarfraz has been absolutely marvellous with the bat and gloves over the past six months. Sarfraz should continue to work hard because his time will come", he said.

Going by the recent Pakistani trend of continually replacing wicket keepers, Sarfraz Ahmed’s time might come a lot sooner than later. In the meantime, the wicket-keeping conundrum will continue to interest all those watching Pakistan cricket.