Back in the day, a team would have a specialist wicket-keeper whose sole job was to be the custodian with the gloves behind the stumps. They were known to be fighting batsmen, not attacking or aggressive in most cases. Fast forward to present times, we always refer to them as wicket-keeper-batsmen. If you are not a formidable batsman as a wicket-keeper, chances are that you won’t make it to most teams. While the art of classical keeping may have faded away, the T20 format demands more than just that of these individuals.

Most teams in the VIVO Indian Premier League have multiple keepers. Some of them even started off their careers as batsmen and then took to wicket-keeping. Mumbai Indians too has a rich crop of wicket-keepers to choose from. Let’s take a look at them:

Ambati Rayudu:

Ambati Rayudu swears by consistency. He has been a central figure in Mumbai Indians since 2010. He is one of those batsmen who took wicket-keeping seriously and did a good job with the gloves too. It never affected his batting as Rayudu won us many games seeing us through some sticky situations. While we have a few specialist keepers in our squad at the moment, we have the insurance to fall back on Rayudu in case of any injuries.

Parthiv Patel:

Of all the wicket-keepers in the Mumbai Indians setup, Parthiv Patel is by far the most technically sound with the gloves. He has also opened for the team on several occasions, with some noteworthy contributions to his name. Patel’s recent form has been phenomenal too, having led Gujarat to its maiden Ranji Trophy title. He followed this up with a string of good scores in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as well. This rich vein of form will surely come in handy leading into the 2017 VIVO IPL.

Jos Buttler:

England’s leading wicket-keeper-batsman in the shortest format was picked up by Mumbai Indians in the 2016 auction. He has a safe pair of hands whether he dons the gloves or patrols the field elsewhere. And his batting can be innovatively destructive too. We are yet to see a major knock by Buttler, but you get a feeling that it’s just around the corner.

Jitesh Sharma:
An explosive batsman in the top order, Jitesh Sharma’s career graph has been on a constant rise in Indian domestic circles for Vidarbha. He was bought by Mumbai Indians in the 2016 player auction. Although he hasn’t made his VIVO IPL debut yet, Sharma’s wicket-keeping skills have been lauded by many. This extraordinary piece of wicket-keeping should be proof enough: https://www.instagram.com/p/BRD-669AMyr/?taken-by=mumbaiindians&hl=en

Nicholas Pooran:

Adding to the Caribbean flavour in the Mumbai Indians squad this season will be the exciting keeper-batsman Nicholas Pooran. Take a look at his Caribbean Premier League and West Indies U-19 numbers and you’ll know why he was picked by us in the player auction. Pooran is a smart gloveman as well, completing what is an elite group of extremely skilled wicketkeepers.

Wicket-keepers have revolutionised cricket in the last two decades, starting from Romesh Kaluwitharana to Adam Gilchrist. Our boys can turn games on their head with the gloves and the bat.

Don’t forget to watch out for these talented players in the 10th edition of the VIVO IPL.