Gloves not off for Mahesh Rawat

Mon, May 12 12:35 AM

Shane Warne calls him Mr Adaptability and Mahesh Rawat hasn't let his skipper down. Before you exclaim, 'Mahesh who?' let it be known that the Jaipur team's wicketkeeper is topping the charts with the big gloves.

Going into Sunday's double-header, Rawat had six catches and five runouts, more than any wicketkeeper, to his credit. "From the very first day, Warne was impressed with me.

I kept well in practice matches and played a couple of good knocks too. So he started calling me Mr Adaptability as he felt I could adapt to any situation," Rawat said, of the man whose handshake knocked him off, winking gleefully.

Barring two matches, Rawat has been preferred over a seasoned thoroughbred in Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal. That's partly because of the restrictions on the number of foreigners in the playing XI but also because the team management - coach Warne's assistant Darren Bent, handy keeper in his playing days, included - is more than happy with the diminutive youngster.

Having spent four seasons playing for Haryana, Rawat, this year joined Railways, where he was offered a post of head TTE. A simple man with simple ambitions, Rawat's performance with the big gloves did not go unnoticed as he was soon selected for the Challenger Trophy and India A's tour of Kenya soon.

Soon, the IPL happened but after Chennai and Delhi evinced interest, things went quiet. Then, suddenly Shamsher Singh, manager of the Jaipur team, called.

He was snapped up for Rs 20 lakhs and "life took a glorious turn". Rawat hasn't done anything of note with the bat in the IPL and that's irking him.

But Warne's keeping the faith. Asked about the lack of runs from his wicketkeeper, Warne had said that he was happy with Rawat and backed him strongly.

When Hyderabad came visiting, Warne made sure that he picked Adam Gilchrist's brains by inviting both Gilchrist and Rawat for a chat.

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