In 1859 Charles Darwin put forth his theory of evolution by natural selection. He said organisms with traits that help them survive tend to have more offspring. And in doing so, they pass on inheritable beneficial gene characteristics to the next generation. Small improvements aggregate, and in time can show up as large changes to the organism as a whole. The story is about being more adaptable for an ecological niche. For the moment, let’s assume the ecological niche to be the cricket field and the organism in question, wicketkeepers. There’s an analogy in how this set has evolved from behind the stumps and taken a better stance in front of it. Alan Knott and Rod Marsh were the benchmarks, whose artistry behind the wickets was legendary. Then came Syed Kirmani and Ian Healy, the so-called wicketkeeper-batsmen, who carried their stature as wicketkeepers, but could also hold the bat to good effect. The turnaround was better visible with Alec Stewart and Romesh Kaluwitharana; more such names cropped up in between — Andy Flower, Nayan Mongia, and the like — forcing the cricketing world to take notice as the term gradually changed to batsman-wicketkeeper. In one-day cricket, where batting ability is a prerequisite, Adam Gilchrist came with his power-packed performances. Then entered Mahendra Singh Dhoni. We now have a congregation of personalities good in wicketkeeping, and better at batting. No longer are they uni-dimensional; rather, they’ve made a separate niche for themselves in the all-rounders’ category. We have wicketkeepers who can open the innings and take advantage of the power plays, like Gilchrist and Kamran Akmal; those who can come in at number three, rotate the strike and play anchor, like Kumara Sangakkara; those who can slog in the death, like Dhoni or South African Mark Boucher; or just play the clinical finisher, like New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum. These are the six principal reasons why this World Cup might be a watershed in the profile of a wicketkeeper. In the Sri Lankan rebuilding process, Sangakkara filled in for Kaluwitharana with the gloves, and for Asanka Gurusinghe with the bat. His takings behind the stumps, especially following Murali’s ball, showed he had it in him, while his resolute batting, spiced with cracking off-side play, helped the Islanders solve the long-term search for No 3. Gilchrist, the earliest of the present batch, was always spanking the ball around with breathtaking pull shots and getting acclaims for taking the famous walk back on his own. Gilchrist had been the man who kept alive pinch-hitting in the initial overs after Jayasuriya’s stock plummeted. His sharp cricketing mind and keeping to Shane Warne’s prodigious turn made him an asset to the Australian side. But it has been Dhoni, with his flowing mane, who has caught the imagination. He’s admittedly slightly weak in the keeping department, but more than makes up with his batting. Who could forget the innings of 183 against Sri Lanka in 2005 and the Vizag innings against Pakistan. However, in recent times, he has made a conscious effort to settle down and experiment.Strike rates of over 82, after his 233 ODIs tell the Mark Boucher story. Add to that his contribution at the end in that chase of a lifetime by the South Africans against Australia in March 2006, and opponents know that South Africa’s grit-your-teeth-and-take-them-on wicketkeeper is still the danger man. The full-blast of McCullum’s craft with the bat was lately seen in the Chappell-Hadlee series. It was the youngster’s pluck and absolute disregard for the Aussies’ well-rooted fame that marked his batting — blasting the bowling out to the stands. With an attitude and batting style that is necessarily based on aggression and tenacity, McCullum, coming in at six-down, is a strong bet to provide that necessary burst at the end to a total or a chase. This species’ keeping is just as important as their batting. On these slow and low West Indies wickets, and pacers mixing the slower ones more than the bouncer, keeping gets a bit tricky. And it doesn’t help when you have a Kumble or a Murali or Afridi bowling. Of late a lot of keepers, especially Sangakkara and Boucher have been asked to stand up to the likes of Vaas, Maharoof, Pollock, Hall, making it more challenging than they like to savour. On the whole, wicketkeepers have never before got such a wide scope of performing on a big stage. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the era of wicketkeepers has reached its zenith. And this World Cup is the right time to show that.
