Pakistan cricket has a glorious history as far as wicket keepers are concerned, with the likes of Wasim Bari, Moin Khan and Rashid Latif serving the country successfully for long spells in the past.
Moin Khan (L), Rashid Latif (C) and Wasim Bari (R).
Their successor, Kamran Akmal, made a breakthrough entrance into the team and continued to perform consistently, up until that dreaded Test match in Sydney in January 2010. Kamran failed to hold on to four catches and also missed a run-out, due to which Australia were able to seal a highly unlikely victory.
Ever since that horrid day, Pakistan’s wicket keeping standards have experienced a major downfall. Kamran was replaced by his younger brothers, Umar and Adnan, who proved to be just as incompetent behind the stumps. Not only were the wicket keepers struggling with the gloves on, they also significantly failed to produce results with the bat. In this day and age, where it is almost essential for a wicket keeper to have a sound understanding of the art of batting, team Pakistan’s balance as a batting unit suffered immensely due to this dreadful issue.
It can be argued that a good wicket-keeping batsman can be the difference between two strong teams in this modern era. Take for example the success of Adam Gilchrist for Australia and how he completely revolutionised the role of a wicket keeper. Taking his lead, many others have epitomised this position, such as Sri Lanka’s living legend Kumar Sangakkara and India’s captain, cool Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It can be safely stated that Australia, Sri Lanka and India have won numerous games and tournaments by having the luxury of extremely talented wicket-keeping batsmen in their respective squads.
Similarly, it was very important for Pakistan to find a capable wicket-keeper who could add value to the ever so fragile Pakistani batting line-up. Several keepers were tried and tested, yet matters only seemed to deteriorate until one memorable day in January 2014. Pakistan had to chase down an excess of 300 runs on the fifth day of the final Test match against Sri Lanka, in Sharjah, in order to level the series. Younis Khan and Azhar Ali were set on the crease, when the former lost his wicket to Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews. At 97 for three, with more than 200 runs to chase down and that too at a rate close to five runs an over, it seemed impossible for the men in green to end up as victors.
