Ojha has been in the form of his life — after his 835 runs from 7 Ranji Trophy matches last season, he has scores of 217, 219, 101, 110 in the last 4 games. (Express photo by Renuka Puri)

On eve of the Duleep Trophy final at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium as the players walked to the nets, South Zone’s Robin Uthappa gave a tight hug to Central Zone’s Naman Ojha. The semi-final heroes — a day after Uthappa scored a ton at Lahli against East Zone, Ojha smashed a double hundred at Mohali against North — would go on to exchange pleasantries and compliments. Watching the two together, South Zone coach Hemang Badani quipped, “Naman, kindly be lenient to us tomorrow.” Badani’s comment would trigger a big roar of laughter.

Ojha, though, would soon go into a shell. The wicketkeeper-batsman from Madhya Pradesh has been in the form of his life — after his 835 runs from 7 Ranji Trophy matches last season, he has scores of 217, 219, 101, 110 in the last 4 games — but he doesn’t have the luxury to rest on these phenomenal laurels. It isn’t easy being a wicketkeeper in the MS Dhoni era. The Indian captain plays every format and never likes to rest.

Keeping that in mind, Ojha, 31, at best can aim to be the ‘second best’.

Topping the charts

If the national selectors are looking for a batsman-keeper, Ojha is head and shoulders above the competition. The equation changes in case the search is for a ‘keeper-batsman’. Wriddhiman Saha, if one goes by the Test squad during the England tour, is said to be sharpest behind the stumps. By virtue of being named Dhoni’s replacement for the Sri Lanka series, Saha is officially the country’s No.2 keeper. Plus there is the ‘new kid in town’ Sanju Samson, who will be the India A keeper against the islanders at the Wankhede.

Adding to the hustle and bustle of the ‘wicketkeepers’ queue’ at the Kotla is ‘old hand’ Dinesh Karthik and ‘fresh convert’ Uthappa, who has been a regular keeper for his IPL side and these days spends hours honing his glovework at nets. Also on field on Wednesday, and not behind the stumps, will be Railways’ keeper Mahesh Rawat, who hit the headlines in the last game against North Zone with a match-winning ton.

Not too keen to talk about the other three keepers around, Ojha speaks about his batting and the reasons for his stunning form. Two years back, Ojha was an instinctive batsman who would throw away his wicket by playing rash strokes. Last season, he started becoming more patient. “I haven’t changed the nature of my batting as such, but rather I am trying to be more patient on the wicket. I hope I could carry my form against South Zone in the final as it could strengthen my case for selection in the senior side,” said Ojha.

Playing late

Interestingly, Uthappa too speaks about a shift in batting approach that has worked for him. Fresh from his 120 against East Zone in the semifinal, the opener has added a few strokes to his armoury but, more importantly, deleted many. His stance much more bent now, Uthappa believes in playing really late, which helps him to get on top of the ball.

“Earlier I used to premeditate. Now I keep my shape, I don’t move around much. I wait for the ball to be delivered from the bowler’s hand,” he says. Uthappa does travel with his wicket-keeping gloves but it is Karthik who will be behind the stumps for South.

Interestingly, both Ojha and Uthappa have come a long way. They might share a common ground on keeping wickets but their batting, more or less, has come out of oblivion. Ojha played just a solitary ODI while Uthappa faded away from being a permanent member of the India squad.

On their comeback trail, they have been among runs because of the changes they have incorporated in their styles of batting.

Both are comfortable playing limited overs cricket but their success in the longer format has given them an edge over many others.

On the other hand, Karthik, who has been on and off in the squad, hasn’t been on top of his form. His IPL season was decent but he could not make the best of his outing at Lahli. He was castled at 9 by Laxmi Ratan Shukla. It has been noticed in the past that whenever Karthik has put on runs, the selectors have rewarded his efforts. Karthik is waiting for just that.

“The good thing about this selection committee is that anyone who performs, they give him an opportunity to play in the Indian team. I am waiting for that one knock to come. Hopefully if it comes tomorrow, nothing like it. But as far as competition is concerned, it has always been there and performance is the only way to go up,” said Karthik after the practice session. The race to be the No.2 is getting tough.