By CricketCountry Staff
Former Indian wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani said on Monday that he is proud to see captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni becoming the country’s leading 'keeper with most dismissals in Test format.
Published: Nov 07, 2011, 02:06 PM (IST)
Edited: Nov 07, 2011, 02:06 PM (IST)
MS Dhoni is at the 13th spot in the list of wicketkeepers with most dismissal © Getty Images
By CricketCountry Staff
Mumbai: Nov 7, 2011
Former Indian wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani said on Monday that he is proud to see captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni becoming the country’s leading ‘keeper with most dismissals in Test format.
Dhoni claimed his 200th dismissal as wicketkeeper during the first day of the opening Test against West Indies at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi, and in the process surpassed Kirmani’s tally of 198 scalps.
Kirmani told MiD DAY, “I am so proud of him for breaking records and bringing laurels to the country. I want to congratulate him for this wonderful achievement. I was the happiest man in the world when he became captain (in 2007), and now I am even happier that he’s India’s most successful wicketkeeper of all time.”
The former India wicketkeeper said Dhoni has all good qualities to be a ‘long-term player’. “People talk about technique and all that. He has proved that things like technique and basics don’t matter as long as you are attentive, and in the process, effective. That’s what you require to be successful.”
“I always knew he had what is needed to be a long-term player. He believes in delivering results and doesn’t dwell on technicalities,” Kirmani added.
“I was the vice-captain of India for a while, but never got the captaincy. I was forced to announce my retirement when I was on the brink of breaking Rodney Marsh’s record of 96 Tests (for most Tests by a wicketkeeper). In India, we always saw the wicketkeeper as an add-on in the team who could never lead.”
“That’s why it gives me great pleasure to see a wicketkeeper and a very unorthodox one take charge of Indian cricket. What he has done will inspire a whole new generation take up to wicketkeeping,” Kirmani expressed.
Kirmani also said Dhoni is playing in at a time when there are not many quality spinners.
“A wicketkeeper’s skill-level is judged by how well he stands up to a spinner. That’s one of the reasons I was praised all over the world because I had to keep to the best spinners in the world. These days, there aren’t too many good spinners. Having said that, every era brings its own set of challenges,” he said.
