The legendary MS Dhoni has long been a margin of reference when it comes to wicketkeeping across formats. And that includes various aspects behind the stumps along with contributions to DRS reviews. There have been few who have come close to matching the former India captain in any of the wicketkeeping aspects, let alone perform better than him. However, England wicketkeeping great Alec Stewart has made an audacious claim on compatriot Ben Foakes, saying that he has been quicker behind the stumps than Dhoni.
Stewart’s comment came after the second Test in Visakhapatnam between India and England, where Foakes performed impressively, including picking two crucial catches for the visitors off the bowling of leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed. Overall, in the tour of India, he grabbed six catches and inflicted two stumpings
“He does things that no one else can do. His hand speed is second to none,” Stewart told The Times. “MS Dhoni had quick hands but Foakes has the quickest hands in the game and the ball stays in them.”
The veteran of 133 Tests and 170 ODI appearances for England further explained the changes Foakes made in his training routine in a bid to keep for long hours against spin on Indian conditions.
“He knew there would be a lot of spin bowling so it (his training) was 80-20 in favour of his standing-up stuff, which he’s brilliant at anyway — the ball bouncing, the ball turning, the ball keeping low. That’s why I was so pleased for him, after all the hours he’s put in, and then he gets rewarded with some of the catches he took.”
“We’d discuss the position of his feet, the height he gets, where his hands are. He leads it. We used the Merlin spin machine, mats that spin or one with holes cut in them, so that some spin and some bounce. We do it from 22 yards, or from ten or 11 yards. He knows what he wants to work on and we’ve done that since he joined us in 2014 from Essex.”
“I said a while ago he’s the best in the world and, but for circumstances, he could be coming up to playing 50 or 60 Tests, but I get the need to balance the side and that’s why he’s not played (more). People should not underestimate his batting,” he added.
Foakes also contributed valiantly with the bat in both the matches so far in the five-Test series. He scored 34 runs in the second innings in Hyderabad where he ably supported Ollie Pope in a match-winning sixth-wicket stand of 112 runs where the latter made an incredible 196. In the second Test, he put up a courageous 36 in the final innings, albeit in a losing cause.
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