5 Similarities between current Indian team and the Windies of 1980s

2. A skillful wicketkeeper capable of chipping in with the bat as well

The Windies of the 1980s had a very skillful and brilliant wicketkeeper, Jeff Dujon, behind the stumps. The 62-year-old gloveman was very athletic behind the stumps: flying in the air to grab the impossible ball, grabbing good low catches and mentoring bowlers with the field placements. Keeping the wickets to one of the furriest bowling attacks in the world was itself an accomplishment and the Jamaican had done it in the best possible way.

Apart from being a good wicket-keeper, Dujon was a very handy lower middle-order batsman who had rescued Windies many times from tough situations, forging partnerships with tail and won matches for them. The athletic right-handed batsman had more than 5000 runs in international cricket and approximately 10000 runs in first-class cricket which shows how good he was with a bat in hand.

His Indian counterpart, MS Dhoni, on the other hand, needs no introduction as all as his records and achievements speak for himself. Indian team is lucky to have a sportsperson like MS Dhoni in the team who can contribute in so many ways. The Ranchi born cricketer’s wicketkeeping skills are, unarguably, the best in the world with lightning-quick stumpings which leaves the batsmen astonished.

The 37-year-old is also the backbone of the fragile Indian middle-order with the bat, playing anchoring roles in the team’s run chases and can be very dangerous in the death overs with his hard-hitting exploits. Dhoni, currently, is known as the best finisher in modern day cricket and is believed to have the best knowledge of circumstances on the field.

The veteran is the guiding light not just to the captain Kohli but to the whole team. The former Indian skipper has close to 17000 international runs to his name and has an average of more than 100 in India’s successful run chases in the 50-over format.