Dhoni and contemporary wicketkeepers

[The Outsider]

Really who are those keepers who looked far more assured than Dhoni in all conditions?

Boucher, Paine(not yet in the side, but Haddin's days are numbered), Jayawardene, Baugh are definitely better keepers than Dhoni. Prior is about equivalent of Dhoni in keeping skills and twice the batsman. I don't even understand why you guys are clamoring about for his keeping skills when Dhoni has himself admitted they are pretty average.

[rkt.india]

Boucher, Paine(not yet in the side, but Haddin's days are numbered), Jayawardene, Baugh are definitely better keepers than Dhoni. Prior is about equivalent of Dhoni in keeping skills and twice the batsman. I don't even understand why you guys are clamoring about for his keeping skills when Dhoni has himself admitted they are pretty average.

Paine is ordinary, not better than Haddin as a keeper.

[Ultimate_Game]

Brilliant useless ton from Dhoni in this game' date=' if only he could do this when India actually need him, when the going gets tough, dhoni gets out.[/quote'] The one time we really needed him the most he actually delivered... in the WC final :two_thumbs_up:

[Mariyam]

I don't even understand why you guys are clamoring about for his keeping skills when Dhoni has himself admitted they are pretty average.

This is a catch 22 situation. If he said that his keeping skills were great, you'd call him a big mouth. When he says that his keeping skills are average, you take his words at face value. quid nunc? What is he supposed to say if someone asks him a pointed question about his keeping?

[Andrew Peter]

Just take the example of the most recent 100 vs WI. People are quick to write this off saying he made merry when conditions were "easy". Well when he came in the score was 396-6' date= strong score but by no means safe. There was every possibility if he didn't play that innings, we'd have folded for less than 450, and all else remaining the same we'd end up having to score a tricky 160-170 (probably even 200) on Day 4 and 5. Dhoni completely buried Windies out of the match. He's not an exceptional batsman. He is not an exceptional keeper. But he's one helluva exceptional package.

You are talking as if the score was 26-6 and Dhoni hit a Akmal style century there .

[Sid]

Take a look at some old clips of the likes of Dujon, Marsh, and Knott keeping. Or from the modern times the likes of Gilchrist, Healy, and Reed. Yeah, Dhoni does not "drop" too many catches. But it's just his being uncomfortable standing further up to pace bowlers which costs the team lots of chances. There are numerous occasions when the ball has bounced a few inches in front of him. Not only directly, but it messes up the entire positioning of the slips and at least I have seen chances fall short on many occasions to our slip fielders. Besides the above, he seldom dives for catches which are going towards first slip. Dravid is a natural right hand catcher and will not react as quickly to chances coming to his left. Dhoni is supposed to attempt those, and if you've followed Indian cricket you would have seen numerous chances flying through the wicketkeeper and slip with constant debates on ICF about whose catch was it - there is no debate, it's always the keeper's catch as Benaud would say.

I have followed Dhoni's career from his India A days and I can safely say he has improved leaps and bounds as a keeper.If he himself says he is average still then I can safely say he was rubbish back then.He has improved his footwork as a keeper which is more important than diving around for every catch. And the observations you have talked about his keeping also seems to be only based on last Eng tour(pardon me if I am wrong).I say that becaiuse he kept very well on previous tours like Aus,SA, NZ.Never before this English tour that I heard about his hesitance to keep further up to pace bowlers,perhaps finger injuries may have been a reason for that.

[Sachin=GOD]

Dhoni never was an extraordinary keeper or a very good batsman but to his credit he has improved a lot in the last 3-4 years and has now become an effective batsman in ODIs. But his keeping has to improve and his batting in Tests also has scope for improvement.

[saurabhg]

You are talking as if the score was 26-6 and Dhoni hit a Akmal style century there .

hey look who's here :yay::yay: another friendly neighbour :finger:

[The Outsider]

I have followed Dhoni's career from his India A days and I can safely say he has improved leaps and bounds as a keeper.If he himself says he is average still then I can safely say he was rubbish back then.He has improved his footwork as a keeper which is more important than diving around for every catch.

Yeah, he has improved and you are right - he was even more ordinary when he started out. If you would remember, he was drafted in the ODI team initially and Karthik still played tests for about a year before he made the test squad.

And the observations you have talked about his keeping also seems to be only based on last Eng tour(pardon me if I am wrong).I say that becaiuse he kept very well on previous tours like Aus,SA, NZ.Never before this English tour that I heard about his hesitance to keep further up to pace bowlers,perhaps finger injuries may have been a reason for that.

No, they are true in general. Perhaps he was not standing as far back, but the sight of the ball flying between him and first slip is nothing new.

[Sid]

Okay then,hopefully he will improve and go for those catches on Aus tour and you wont see any more sight of the ball flying between him and the first slip : )