Specialist wicket keepers are not preferred anymore, feels Syed Kirmani

The latest wicketkeeper-batsman on the block for India is Rishabh Pant, who has surely exhibited his batting skills a couple of times now but his wicketkeeping skills have been nowhere near to that of MS Dhoni or Wriddhiman Saha for that matter. While England wouldn't be an ideal place for a wicketkeeper to debut, Pant hasn't been able to impress India technically a well.

“No coach is talking about technique now. Performance is what is required now, nobody bothers about technique and Dhoni has proved that. Now the youngsters are following whoever is at the top, like Dhoni, so the young wicket-keepers are following Dhoni, but in wicket-keeping, if you don’t have a certain technique, you will be found out,” he said.

“With the advent of T20, it’s gone a step above. Now everybody is looking for a batsman who can keep; K.L. Rahul is keeping, makeshift fellows are keeping. It all started with Rahul Dravid and T20 has taken it to another level”.

“You have got to have good collection, good anticipation, you have to a good vision. Unfortunately, there is a trend of wearing glasses. When you have a good natural vision, why bring the glass in front. That fraction of a second in front of your head, you have lost the sight of the ball and your anticipation goes haywire. You might miss a catch or a stumping.”