da 888： He was a keen gymnast when Suneeta Sharma, a coach at the NationalInstitute of Sport, decided to give him a go at the game of cricket
Anand Vasu04-Dec-2001He was a keen gymnast when Suneeta Sharma, a coach at the NationalInstitute of Sport, decided to give him a go at the game of cricket.The lad turned out to be a more-than-decent bat, went on to climbrapidly through the age groups before making his first-class debut. Ahundred in that match against Baroda in the Ranji Super League in1998-99 confirmed that he was good enough for the domestic circuit. Ifthere was any doubt about his belonging at the highest level, though,Deep Dasgupta went a long way in erasing it at the Punjab CricketAssociation Stadium at Mohali.With patience that would have put a Trappist monk to shame, Dasguptaducked, weaved and left the ball more times than the English bowlerscould tolerate on the way to a maiden Test hundred. Showing remarkablerestraint, Dasgupta occupied the crease long enough to reach exactly100. The sixth Indian stumper to achieve the feat, Dasgupta has done alot towards cementing his place in the Indian team.His keeping has not been out of the top drawer – dropped catches haveblemished his record and annoyed bowlers – but this innings will dohis confidence a world of good. More often than not, when a keeperstruggling behind the stumps makes runs, it rubs off and turns thingsaround with the gloves as well. Dasgupta will be hoping for just that.”It still hasn’t sunk in, the fact that I’ve got a Test hundred,” saidan excited Dasgupta to pressmen soon after the end of the day’s play.The stumper revealed that he was told he would open the innings quitelate in the day. “When the match began, I was told I would be battingat number seven. Then Sanjay Bangar had his injury, and Sourav Gangulyasked if I would like to open. This was about halfway through theEngland innings. Naturally I accepted,” revealed Dasgupta. A decisionthe lad will certainly not regret.”I didn’t really think much about opening the innings. I had a job todo, went in there, and batted as well as I could. It turned out that Igot a hundred,” said Dasgupta. Having been pressed into similarservice in South Africa, Dasgupta compared the two experiences. “Thewicket wasn’t very different, really, between South Africa and here.There was grass on this wicket too. The bounce, of course, was a lotless here at Mohali,” he said.Dasgupta showed signs of nerves as he neared his ton. “I was certainlya bit nervous, but Rahul Dravid really helped me. He kept talking tome and telling me to concentrate. That helped me through to triplefigures,” he said.The stumper made light of the work that he has put in so far in thisTest. Keeping wickets and then opening the innings is never easy, butthe lad brushed it off. “It’s only a matter of fitness, really.Otherwise, there is no reason why someone shouldn’t be able to do itregularly. Farokh Engineer did it for India in the past, and AlecStewart has done it for England too,” said Dasgupta, showing that heknew his cricketing history.Dasgupta’s century is just a validation of the faith that the Indianselection committee reposed in him, both in South Africa and afreshfor the home series against England. The East Zone representative onthe selection committee, Ashok Malhotra, said as much. “I have playeda bit of club cricket with Deep, and I always knew he had it in him,”he said. “The selectors had full faith in him, and he has not let themdown.”Although reaching the three-figure mark is a dream for every batsmanwho plays Test cricket, Dasgupta let on that he valued his matchsaving contribution in South Africa more. “This is a very importantinnings for me obviously. But I personally feel that the innings inSouth Africa gave me more satisfaction. It was a completely differentball game, with us needing to save that game,” he explained.That is surely the most positive thing to emerge from this episode.Not carried away by success, Dasgupta has his feet firmly planted onthe ground. As a stand-in opener and a stumper, he may still have along way to go. A good beginning, however, has been made at Mohali.