Utterly, butterly MSD

For over five decades Amul butter has amused people with its endearingly topical ad campaigns and hoardings. The company, however, doesn't need to scratch its head anymore. All it needs to do is sign up Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its ambassador. Chances are ultra-slim that the company will find a better butter-fingered wicket-keeper in international cricket.

Fans may have short memory but consider the anguish that former Indian keepers like Farokh Engineer and Syed Kirmani must have gone through while watching the glove work of Dhoni during the last England tour. They must still be reeling under a bad spell of insomnia if not nightmare. And yet, the two iconic keepers have gracefully preferred silence. One feels, had they chosen their words carefully, which they often do, the criticism would have done a great service to Dhoni’s growth as a keeper. Dhoni needed it as much as he deserved it. Surprisingly, it came from an unexpected quarter, David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd, a former England batsman and now a commentator of considerable following. At Lord’s, Bumble, in his inimitable style, commented that Dhoni didn’t figure in his list of top-six keepers currently playing. For once, someone was not overawed by Dhoni’s iconic image and was honest in his remark. Figures may not always reveal the story in entirety but 49 byes in 6 innings during the England Test series certainly reveals the malaise. India’s golden age in wicket-keeping may have ended with Kirmani’s retirement but its standard had never seen such a decline.

A wicket-keeper may have an ordinary match or even a series, as in the case of Pakistan’s Kamran Akmal during the Australia series (’09-10), but Dhoni’s keeping has been consistently faulty and his temperament questionable. In his last 5 Test series, which spreads over 15 Tests and 27 innings, Dhoni has conceded 127 runs as bye. During this period, it was only in the Boxing Day Test in Durban (’10-11) that Dhoni managed to keep the slate clean by not conceding a single bye in the entire Test.

For a keeper, who has not quite been a connoisseur’s delight, Dhoni still has a couple of things going in his favour — his sharp stumping skills and catching ability, though he rarely takes a blinder or converts a half-chance into a catch. In his last 15 Tests, the Indian skipper has snapped up 54 catches and affected 3 stumpings.

However, what baffles most discerning eyes is the fact that Dhoni often doesn’t follow the Thumb-Rule of rising with the ball after the ‘squat’ position, which is a cardinal sin in international cricket. Instead, he depends on his sharp reflexes, which often comes to his rescue but then not always. Having covered Tests and ODIs regularly in the last few years, I’ve noticed Dhoni making the following mistakes with regularity.

#1        He doesn’t move sideways to the leg-side while gathering a ball, instead he runs and snatches at the ball. This makes his keeping on the leg-side rather mediocre.

#2        He seems to believe that if a ball has pitched on the leg-side and is deviating further down the leg, especially in case of a spinner, it’s perfectly acceptable to miss the ball or at best stop it with pads.

#3        He is perhaps the only international keeper who regularly uses his pads to stop a ball, even in case of medium-pace bowlers.                        

#4        On quite a few occasions, he’s been found guilty of watching the catch go between the first slip and himself, instead of going for it.

#5        Strangely, he rarely practices keeping during the nets. Interestingly, he’s often seen bowling.

India was perhaps the only World No. 1 Test team that had such an ordinary fielding

side, and not surprisingly it was led by an equally ordinary keeper. During India’s reign

as the top Test side, I had questioned Dhoni on the fielding standard, to which he had

offered, “But we are winning.” Clearly, the captain wanted the victories to cover-up for

the mediocre effort on the field. Shouldn’t winning be a product of excellent fielding,

as much as it should be a product of some great batting and bowling. On a few occasions,

Dhoni has indeed led India to historic wins with his charismatic batting but rarely

with his inspirational keeping. Is India’s ordinary fielding standard a reflection of the

captain’s attitude towards this aspect of the game? Well, it’s a million-dollar bouncer

that I’d like to hurl at the skipper and he’d like to duck under.

Being an admirer of his fearless batting, captaincy and his street-smart approach to

the game, I’d like to make a suggestion — Mahi, please take your keeping gloves to

the nets. Another smart option could be going the Sangakkara’s way and turning into

a pure batsman. Or else, you always have the option of becoming a shining ambassador

of utterly, butterly Amul.