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Nowhere man

There are many misconceptions about Nayan Mongia, and one of them is that he is a Gujarati. Actually, Mongia is a Punjab da puttar, through and through.

Another misconception is that he likes opening, because at the top, he doesn't have to use his feet but can use, instead, the pace of the ball to get runs. Mongia insists that his preferred slot is number six, or seven -- the traditional batting spots for a wicketkeeper.

Another thing that surprises you is his insistence that he doesn't much care to pinch-hit, even if now and again, his skipper Mohammad Azharuddin finds him the best man for the job in one-dayers.

In fact, all these misconceptions are part of what makes Mongia the most faceless performer in the Indian team -- the one no one knows.

He may have over a thousand runs, and over 100 victims, in ODIs, he may have won a Test for the country, he may have earned Sunil Gavaskar's rating of the best wicketkeeper in the world, but he still has the feeling that people's patience with him is running out.

And all that makes up to Mongia being in a very uncomfortable position indeed.

Mongia wanted to know if Zimbabwe is planning to produce a green top for the Test. "I heard that Dave Houghton (the coach) feels they must have a green top, for that alone would restore the balance of the two sides in the one-off Test," Mongia said, and said as an afterthought, "It might mean we will go into the game with six batsmen."

If that happens, Ajay Jadeja will be in the side, and that in turn means Mongia will play at his preferred batting slot, number seven -- a possibility that brightens up his face.

In a sense, Mongia's angst is understandable -- you look at the past few ODIs and you realise the guy has not batted in the same position twice running. And if we are talking of Tests, imagine how unfair it would be to ask your wicketkeeper to open the innings after he has concentrated ball after ball for one and a half days in the field. No team in international cricket has its keeper opening the batting -- even Alec Stewart drops down the order when he doubles as keeper. And all this adds to the pressure, and the insecurity, that Mongia so obviously feels.

He is not exactly unpopular in the Indian team, but he is no one's dear friend either. The traditional way of looking at the Indian dressing room would suggest he is a loner because he belong to neither the North, West or South group.

Some suggest that he has brought this situation on himself because of his own sense of persecution. The flip side though is that he could, if you look at it, have reason for his complex. The start of Mongia's worries was the Kanpur fiasco, when both he and Manoj Prabhakar were dropped from the Indian team for not 'trying enough' against the West Indies in a one-dayer in 1994.

Then came a period when Saba Karim was preferred ahead of him in one-dayers. Also, a couple of run-outs earned him the nation's wrath. And of late, MSK Prasad of Hyderabad is being pushed into contention. Another source of discomfort is his unsettled slot in the batting lineup.

I ask Mongia how he sees himself, as a batsman. Mongia does not take a moment to reply: "Actually, I like to bat at an unhurried pace. At my own pace, I feel confident of raising 30-40 runs in an innings."

The unstated, but obvious, corollary is that when required, he slogs, going against his natural propensities in the interests of team requirements.

And wicket-keeping? "It is a thankless job, more so in India," says Mongia. An irony, since it is more difficult to keep on sub-continental tracks and that too, standing up to the stumps to the spinners. "I feel I have been fortunate to have lasted so long," said Mongia. "For this reason, I admire Kiran More, who lasted in the team for five years.

"In today's relentless cricket, if a wicketkeeper lasts for five years, he has been successful," stresses Mongia, not mentioning that he himself has managed this benchmark since he made his debut against Sri Lanka in Lucknow during the 1993-'94 series.

He has matured late -- his best keeping has come in recent times, when there have been quite a few outstanding efforts. The most memorable is the stupendous effort to send Arjuna Ranatunga packing in the Akai Singer Nidahas Trophy final. And on a broader plane, his keeping to Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble, India's two match-winners, has been exemplary in recent times.

Given all this, it would appear that Mongia should by rights be the most secure member of the Indian team. As it turns out, he is the most insecure, and in that, perhaps, there is the story of Indian cricket in a nutshell.