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| Sunday, 23 May 2004 |
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'Keepers are born, not made!' When Pakistan played England many years ago at Edgbaston, Abdul Qadir the champion spinner of Pakistan was mixing them up - leg spin, top spin and googly. Only one man on the field was reading him right every time. That, not surprisingly, wasn't an Englishman. It was the breeding, sunken-eyed WASIM BARI. And here, Pakistan's No. 1 stumper then takes up his favourite subject in cricket, namely, how to keep wickets. Q: How do you keep yourself so fit? A: I think every professional cricketer should keep himself fully fit, especially with Pakistan having such a tight schedule, but as far as I am concerned I keep my self fit jogging and playing squash. I have to control my diet, too. I have reached an age where I have to start dieting. I have started skipping one meal a day and I think that's necessary to keep fit. Squash has helped me a lot, too. Hanif's tips Q: It's your fifth trip to England. Could you tell us about your experience on the earlier tours? A: The first time I went to England was in 1967 when the team was captained by Hanif Mohammed. I was even then the number one wicket-keeper, I was probably the youngest man in the team. That was my first experience of playing cricket on English soil. Earlier I had played a series at home against the England under-25s, a team which included the great Alan Knott who was also starting his career with the England side. Knott saw me playing for Pakistan, and said some good things about me. He told me that if I went to England I'd be very successful there. Besides this, Hanif Mohammed-who used to be a very good wicket-keeper himself - gave me tips on how to dive, especially on English wicket. We had a one-month pre-tour camp, and I had ample time to learn the technique of diving. Throughout the English tour also, Hanif guided me with more wicket keeping tips. I was very lucky to have him as my captain because it is very essential for a young wicketkeeper to be guided on his first tour by somebody who knows the art himself. Later on, I made another two tours of England, in 1971 and 1974, under the captaincy of Intikab Alam. By that time, I had had a fair bit of experience, having been to Australia and New Zealand in 1972-73, and played several Test matches at home against England, New Zealand, etc.In 1971, I had a very good tour of England, and at Leeds I scored 63 besides taking eight catches. That was one of the best tours I have ever made. The 1974 trip was another good one; we returned undefeated in all matches and we were rather unlucky that we failed to win the Test series against England. In 1978 I was the captain but, unfortunately, because some of our best players were with World Series Cricket in Australia, we didn't have a successful tour. It was a very wet summer, but still it was a good experience for the young boys to have played in difficult conditions. Q: What particular performance do you feel you haven't yet achieved on English soil, and would like to achieve? A: This is a very interesting question. As far as I am concerned, God has been very kind to me, and I have achieved whatever I have wanted to. I have played for Pakistan for a long time; I have captained the country. I have achieved whatever a cricketer can dream of in my own particular department. However, my ambition is now that Pakistan has selected the best side available, with a fair bit of luck and weather permitting, it should win against England. Concentrate! Q: Which wicketkeepers in the country are being groomed to take your place, in your opinion, that is? A: When I started playing cricket, there were seven or eight wicketkeepers in the country with more experience than myself, but I still kept on going and was selected ahead of them. I believe that wicketkeepers are not made, they are born. It all comes naturally to you. You can either keep wicket or you can't. So, it is up to the wicketkeeper to work hard; believe me, it's really hard to make the grade. You have to have concentration; you have to be really fit and on top of that you have to be a `natural'. I don't really know, but I have seen a couple of wicketkeepers who are promising and are good. I don't know when they'll take my place, but they have to work hard for that and perform better than me. It is a highly competitive world I believe that Pakistan should always play its best side. The only wicketkeepers I feel worth a mention here are Anil Dalpat, Saleem Yousuf and Ashraf Ali. I wish all of them luck and may the best man win! Q: Did you model yourself upon any famous wicketkeepers? A: I don't think so, because, as I have told you before wicketkeeping comes naturally to a wicketkeeper. My keeping is probably more natural than anybody else's. My style and attitude are quite different from all other wicketkeepers of my era, as you must have noticed. The basic thing that a wicketkeeper should have in him is that he should have concentration. Number two, he must rise with the ball. He must not grab, he must let the ball come to him. Apart from that, whatever stance he adopts, it should be his own. Something in which he feels comfortable. So long as you can catch, or make a stumping that remains the most important thing. The best If you really want to know who my favourites have been, I would have no hesitation in naming Alan knott and Bob Taylor. They in my opinion, are the best and most correct all-round wicketkeepers in the world. They are good models for young wicketkeepers to learn some thing from. I don't recommend youngsters to copy my wicketkeeping because it's natural, and they wouldn't really learn anything from it. Q: How long to you think you'll last in test cricket? A: I have always felt that I should play on my performance. If I don't perform well, I know I won't be selected for the next match. That's how I see my future. If my performance is good. I'll play. If it is not good, I won't play. I don't think I'll be justified in asking for a place in the team if I don't give in a good display. |
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