KL Rahul can be our regular Keeper.......VOTE VOTE VOTE

[jusarrived]

Like Dravid in ODIs? Would have been India's best keeper-batsman in ODIs if not for a man-machine named MSD.

Dravid though never looked like a keeper , even though he improved a lot in the end he was always parttime

[Marut]

OKish for ODIs, not OK for tests. A middle/lower order bat can be a WK.

[Vijy]

Dravid though never looked like a keeper ' date=' even though he improved a lot in the end he was always parttime[/quote'] Dravid was a better keeper than some of the others we'd tried before him.As you stated, he improved a lot and did his best. His batting also flourished during this period.

[Vijy]

OKish for ODIs' date=' not OK for tests. A middle/lower order bat can be a WK.[/quote'] The real question for me is who will replace MSD in ODIs? In Tests, MSD averaged 38 so having a keeper who averages in low 30s (quite feasible) means that we only lose 3-5 runs. But in ODIs, MSD was arguably our finest batsman and having someone who averages in high 20s would mean that we lose around 25 runs. Hunt must be undertaken to find successors who can avg 40+ in ODIs and keep wickets efficiently, even if they can't be termed excellent.

[Marut]

The real question for me is who will replace MSD in ODIs? In Tests, MSD averaged 38 so having a keeper who averages in low 30s (quite feasible) means that we only lose 3-5 runs. But in ODIs, MSD was arguably our finest batsman and having someone who averages in high 20s would mean that we lose around 25 runs. Hunt must be undertaken to find successors who can avg 40+ in ODIs and keep wickets efficiently, even if they can't be termed excellent.

We may never find some one like Dhoni again - Dhoni is a once in a generation ODI player. Better focus on new strategies instead of looking for replacements.

[sourab10forever]

Gilchrist opened,sangakara and rahul batted at 3 .So its not that it can't be done. Sure its though but why not give it a try? Maybe keeping would help him stayed switched on during the match when he has to suddenly pad up and bat. Maybe getting used to opening+keeing will give him the stamina he needs to play the long long innings. There would be so much he could learn from behind the stumps watching the best in the opposition bat.Might give him a clear idea of the pitch and how to bat on that particular track. Would give him confidence that his place in the side is fixed and he need not worry about that and play with positive intent and with a free mind. All I say is that in the absence of a good wicket keeper , maybe in the interest of the team this could prove a good move. I also fear that once dhawan and vijay are back, there might be threat to his place in the side since kholi will stick with rohit.He might be in and out of the team and in case he does not perform he might not be given enough chances before been chucked from the team.

[BeautifulGame]

Gilchrist opened,sangakara and rahul batted at 3 .So its not that it can't be done. Sure its though but why not give it a try?

Maybe because they did it in ODI cricket and this is about doing it in Test cricket

[sourab10forever]

We maybe because they did in ODI cricket and this is about doing it in Test cricket

Gilchrist did keep in test and also opened brilliantly. Same thing with sanga .I think AB de also was quite good with the bat at one down when he was keeping.

[HippoSucks]

Gilchrist did keep in test and also opened brilliantly. Same thing with sanga .I think AB de also was quite good with the bat at one down when he was keeping.

Gilchrist did not open in tests apart from one innings. He mostly played at #7.

[div]

At present Rahul is a part time keeper,and you can't play part time keeper in tests.

[BeautifulGame]

Gilchrist did keep in test and also opened brilliantly. Same thing with sanga .I think AB de also was quite good with the bat at one down when he was keeping.

Gilly came in at no.7 in test cricket Sanga gave up wicket keeping because it affected his batting Abdv was a no.5 bat when he kept wickets .Also has already given up keeping and De K.ock keeps for them nowadays and bats at 7 Another one was Alec Stewert and he also preferred to bat no.5 when he kept wickets Rarely has a batsman opened the batting and kept wickets .The only one I remember was Mongia in last 15-20 years for a short period

[HippoSucks]

Gilly came in at no.7 in test cricket Sanga gave up wicket keeping because it affected his keeping Abdv was a no.5 bat when he kept wickets .Also has already given up keeping and De K.ock keeps for them nowadays and bats at 7 Another one was Alec Stewert and also preferred to bat no.5 when he kept wickets Rarely has a batsman opened the batting and kept wickets .The only one I remember was Mongia in last 15-20 years for a short period

Forokh Engineer, John Waite and Imtiaz Ahmed were three other wicket keepers who frequently batted as openers.

[jf1gp_1]

Saha had a good series not sure why this even has to be tried

[Vijy]

We may never find some one like Dhoni again - Dhoni is a once in a generation ODI player. Better focus on new strategies instead of looking for replacements.

He is that. This is why I'm not advocating looking for keepers who can avg 50+, but we should be able to uncover a top order keeper-batsman who can avg in high 30s.

[Vijy]

Gilchrist did keep in test and also opened brilliantly. Same thing with sanga .I think AB de also was quite good with the bat at one down when he was keeping.

Tests are not the same as ODIs.

[kubrickian]

Wicket keeping is a specialist job and that too for tests, its very tough to keep wickets for a couple of days and then bat. That's why most wicket keepers have lower averages than specialist batsmen. Making Rahul keep in test matches will definitely affect his batting and that's unfair on a young batsman who is trying to cement his place. He deserves a spot as a specialist batsman in tests.

[Precambrian]

Dravid was a better keeper than some of the others we'd tried before him.As you stated' date=' he improved a lot and did his best. His batting also flourished during this period.[/quote'] Not exactly flourished, unless you think a better average translates as flourish. He kept wickets for 3 years, 2002-2004, regressing with each year. The averages might look good due to not outs, but the strike rates were pretty below average. In fact, Dravid used keeping to justify his spot in the ODI team AFAIK.

[puneet28]

He will diminish like Irfan Pathan did. Expecting too much from someone is not good. Making Irfan bat constantly up the order reflected on his bowling. In a similar way, it will affect Rahul's batting. So he should be treated as back up for emergency situations no more than that.

[Vijy]

Not exactly flourished, unless you think a better average translates as flourish. He kept wickets for 3 years, 2002-2004, regressing with each year. The averages might look good due to not outs, but the strike rates were pretty below average. In fact, Dravid used keeping to justify his spot in the ODI team AFAIK.

Middle-order batsmen end up with high fractions of not-outs... it goes with the territory - see MSD, Bevan, etc. Dravid's SR was not great, but it wasn't that much less than Bevan for instance. Compared to how he was when he started out in mid and late 1990s, yes, I'd call it a "flourish" - it's relative, after all.

[Precambrian]

Middle-order batsmen end up with high fractions of not-outs... it goes with the territory - see MSD, Bevan, etc. Dravid's SR was not great, but it wasn't that much less than Bevan for instance. Compared to how he was when he started out in mid and late 1990s, yes, I'd call it a "flourish" - it's relative, after all.

Middle order batsmen also tend to have higher strike rates. Dravid's strike rate when he was keeping was pretty low by modern standards. In 2002 it was 76 In 2003 it was an abysmal 64 In 2004 it slightly improved to 72 but his average dropped to 33. All above stats as WK.