da realbet： Syed Saba Karim, the former Indian ‘keeper whom Deep Dasguptasucceeded in the Bengal Ranji squad, feels that the selectorsdid right by naming the young man for the tour of SouthAfrica
Staff & Agencies09-Sep-2001* Yeh hi hai right choiceSyed Saba Karim, the former Indian ‘keeper whom Deep Dasguptasucceeded in the Bengal Ranji squad, feels that the selectorsdid right by naming the young man for the tour of SouthAfrica.Talking to Kolkata’s Telegraph newspaper, Karim began bypraising Dasgupta’s temperament that saw the latter deliver ina pressure situation in his maiden first-class match.”From the beginning Deep impressed me with his temperament. Wewere chasing 450-odd in that Baroda match and under pressure,Deep scored a hundred as an opener.”I did notice that this chap is mentally prepared to cope withpressure and he has done well under similar situations afterthat,” he added.Karim, who made his one-day international debut in SouthAfrica in 1996, then went on to offer a few `keeping tips toDasgupta.”In South Africa, the wickets offer more carry, so, Deep hasto remember that he will be standing further behind the stumpsas compared to what he does in India. He has to be quicker inrunning up to the stumps.”Also, the wickets are so quick that he has to watch the balltill it settles down in his gloves. One can say a ‘keeper hasto do that everywhere but on South African wickets, this needis more acute.”Karim felt that Dasgupta the batsman meanwhile would do wellby simply sticking to his natural game. “He is not anadventurous starter and prefers to consolidate rather thangoing for his shots early. He will have to do that when hegoes out to bat there as it will take time to get used to thepace of the wickets.””He is a wicketkeeper-batsman and not the opposite. He is awilling worker and quick learner. That’s why he has been ableto grab the opportunity in quick time,” Karim said beforesigning off.Dasgupta’s selection has also captured his club Mohun Bagan’sattention. The club, famous for being the first Indian side tobeat an English side at football, has decided to felicitateDasgupta on his return from South Africa.”Since he plays for our club, it is our responsibility tohonour him for his selection in the Indian team. We hope hewill do us proud,” club cricket secretary, ChandranathChatterjee told the Press Trust of India.* Kumble confident that he will do wellAce Indian leggie Anil Kumble, making a comeback to thenational team after a long injury lay-off, is confident thatSouth Africa will see him back at his wicket-taking best.”I feel very happy to be back. I have started playing recentlyand I am quite confident with my bowling,” Kumble, named inthe Indian team for the tri-series in South Africa, toldReuters on Sunday.’Jumbo’, as the leggie is otherwise known, has been out of thegame since October 2000 because of a shoulder injury. Afterbeing operated upon by Dr Mark Fergussen, a South Africansurgeon, in January this year, Kumble returned to first-classcricket recently. He also led the Karnataka side for the MRFBuchi Babu tournament where his last match against CricketAssociation of Bengal saw him retire after bowling just fiveovers.Kumble, who has bagged 276 wickets in 61 Tests, further toldthe news agency, “Playing any international game will giveconfidence. I don’t think there will be any problem.”He said he was also looking forward to partnering HarbhajanSingh, one of the stars of India’s incredible series win overAustralia recently. “It will be good bowling with him. He hasdone really well in the last 7-8 months.”* Ganguly wanted RathoreIt now emerges that Sourav Ganguly wanted Vikram Rathore toreplace Sameer Dighe as the wicket-keeper in the team forSouth Africa. The Indian skipper’s argument, according to areport in the on Sunday, was that thereplacement must not only be a good gloveman but a decent batalso.”We need someone like Sri Lanka’s Kumara Sangakkara orAustralia’s Adam Gilchrist. We need someone solid at No.7 whocould be pushed up if need be,” the paper quoted Ganguly assaying. Hence his vote for Rathore.One of the selectors too apparently felt that there was meritin the Indian skipper’s argument. However, the 33-year-oldPunjab Ranji player’s selection was shot down by the rest whofelt that his age and the fact that he had failed as an openeron previous occasions went against him. That then is story ofhow you earned your first cap, Deep Dasgupta.