Kirmani welcomes two stumpers in ODI team

Chennai, May 18 (UNI) Former India stumper Syed Kirmani today welcomed selection of two wicket-keepers for ODI series and said it augurs well for the team as long as they perform.

''There is nothing wrong in it as long as they perform well'', the former Chairman of Selection committee said, at a press conference after launching hearing and speech therapy centres as the brand ambassador of Danish hearing aid firm Widex.

''During 1971 tour, we had three wicket-keepers -- Farookh Engineer, P Krishnamurthy and myself. Basically, I am happy with the trend as the team requires a lot of all rounders with more ODIs being played. They are now looking at 'batsman-cum-keeper', rather than 'keeper-cum-batsman'. It augurs well as long as performance is there and when you require good results'', he added.

He also recalled how Dravid used to keep wickets in the ODIs.

This gives lot of flexibility to the team.

'Kiri' as the famous wicket-keeper and part of India's only world cup triumph in 1983 in England, is affectionately called, said there was nothing wrong in two wicket-keepers sharing the burden of keeping wickets 25 overs each.

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