Dravid Is Goliath

Adam Gilchrist

187

274/39

6346

36.26

10/37

1.67

Ajay Ratra

12

11/5

90

12.85

0/0

1.33

Vijay Dahiya

19

19/5

216

16.61

0/1

1.26

MSK Prasad

17

14/7

131

14.55

0/1

1.24

Nayan Mongia

140

110/44

1272

20.19

0/2

1.10

Parthiv Patel

12

10/3

113

14.12

0/0

1.08

Sameer Dighe

23

19/5

256

23.27

0/1

1.04

Saba Karim

34

27/3

362

15.73

0/1

0.88

Deep Dasgupta

5

2/1

51

17.00

0/0

0.60

Maybe there is a sound reason for that insistence in playing Rahul Dravid as a wicketkeeper after all. It's easy to attack his glove-work. But in nearly 60 ODIs he's averaged a better rate of dismissals per game than supposedly superior keepers do.
And consider his batting average: A massive 30 runs beyond most Indian rivals. There is a strong case for arguing that the gains from his batting far outweigh any deficiencies in keeping, especially given the poor quality of his domestic competition. For confirmation, just look at how they stack up against the current state-of-the-art in international keeping, a certain Adam Gilchrist. At least Dravid is not utterly humbled by the comparison.

Vijay Dahiya

2

6

0

2

2*

2.00

3.00

M.S.K. Prasad

6

15

0

106

19

11.77

2.50

Nayan Mongia

44

99

8

1442

152

24.03

2.43

Sameer Dighe

6

12

2

141

47

15.66

2.33

Ajay Ratra

6

11

2

163

115*

18.11

2.17

Parthiv Patel

13

22

6

382

62

27.28

2.15

Deep Dasgupta

8

13

0

344

100

28.66

1.63

Saba Karim

1

0

1

15

15

15.00

1.00

No one barring Mongia has consistently kept to Test standards. And though Syed Kirmani and Kiran More, with 198 and 130 dismissals respectively (and better batting records than the contenders above) are both selectors, their expertise hasn't helped anyone grow into a good keeper. Nor is it unearthing any new talent.                                                   * Not out