Quinton de Kock is preferred choice behind wickets for captain Zaheer Khan while Samson, Pant, Billings take care of outfield
Delhi Daredevils seem to have the luxury of plenty. Two leg-spinners – Amit Mishra and Imran Tahir – sometimes figure in the playing 11. They have a good quality of medium-pacers providing a variety.
And, they have four wicketkeepers sometimes figuring in the playing 11, each one a first-choice keep in his own right. Englishman Sam Billings, Indians Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant have no choice but to take the field when you have Quinton de Kock. Billings doesn't mind being in the outfield as he is blessed with a strong arm and his throws from the deep are spot on. From playing with irregular wicket-keeper Kedar Jadhav last season to having four in a game, DD have come a long way.
But given the opportunity, each one is ready to grab it with both hands, or in this case, with both gloves.
It is nothing new for teams to field with more than one wicket-keeper, and the first-choice is nothing difficult. In the case of Mumbai Indians, Parthiv Patel is the chosen one while England's regular gloveman Jos Buttler has to wait for Patel to be dropped to don the wicketkeeping gloves.
It was quite a sight just before the Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab match on Friday when Patel was facing throw-downs from batting coach Robin Singh with Buttler behind the stumps. Patel was doing everything to dodge the ball while giving Buttler wicketkeeping practice.
A look at a few other teams in the IPL and there are at least two wicketkeepers in the playing XI. Gujarat Lions have Dinesh Karthik and Brendon McCullum, though the latter has stopped keeping wickets even for New Zealand to focus on batting and captaincy until recently. Royal Challengers have first-choice KL Rahul and 'Mr 360' AB de Villiers, though the South African does not keep for his country in limited overs but does so in Tests.
Sunrisers Hyderabad have Naman Ojha to keep the wickets even in the three matches that Mumbai Ranji Trophy captain and gloveman Aditya Tare played. In fact, Ojha did not part with the gloves even in the Irani Cup in March for Rest of India against Mumbai even when the side had Andhra wicketkeeper Srikar Bharat.
In fact, Ojha has been exceptional behind the stumps, pulling off at least two sensational catches, diving to either side against Mumbai Indians last Sunday, the second one standing out as otherwise, the ball may have raced to a boundary and the match may have gone into the Super Over.
Asked how it is decided who keeps in a game, Delhi Daredevils' medium-pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile from Australia said: "We are lucky we have got good quality overseas and local wicketkeepers. But when you have got Quinton in the team, there is no question about who keeps. It is good to have that variety. Ideally, we keep picking Quinton and he keeps scoring runs. If not, then I am sure there is a group of blokes who are good. But we are not too much worried about who keeps."
Gone are the days when teams went into a game of cricket with just one specialised wicket-keeper or in certain cases like India in the early 2000, used Rahul Dravid as a stopgap wicketkeeper to give the captain the choice of playing an additional batsman or a bowler depending on the conditions.
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