Wicketkeeper Naman Ojha counts on his battting

MUMBAI: In any other era, a wicketkeeper with this kind of a record under his belt - 7237 runs in 104 First Class games (including 17 hundreds) - would have been playing for the country.
However, such has been MS Dhoni's dominance behind the stumps for the past decade, that Naman Ojha, despite rustling up impressive figures season after season, found himself restricted to the confines of domestic cricket while playing for Madhya Pradesh.All, in the name of opportunity, he managed to get was one ODI and two T20 Internationals more than four years back against Zimbabwe.
Dhoni's decision to pull the curtains down on his Test career, though, has thrown a fresh lifeline to Ojha. Not that the spot would comes easily even now.
He knows that with everyone eager to grab this slot, the competition is likely to be stiffer. He must also be aware that Wriddhiman Saha is currently ahead of him in the race by virtue of being a better wicketkeeper.
Ojha, however, is riding on his broad bat to realize his 'big India dream.'
"I think I do get an edge over the others due to my batting. I've done well in Australia, in Duleep Trophy in the semis, I've been scoring heavily for the past few seasons, so I'm feeling confident about myself. I've performed like a batsman. I can even play as a specialist batsman," Ojha told TOI, after sweating it out ahead of his team's Ranji Trophy match against Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium, on Sunday.
The shy, soft-spoken man of few words has made his bat talk in recent times. Ojha was in blazing form during India A's tour of Australia last year, rustling up scores of 219*, 101* & 110 in the two-'Test' series.
So good was he that India 'A' coach Lalchand Rajput had said that he hadn't seen anyone bat as well on a tour. The in-form batsman was then rushed to join India's touring squad in England, but returned after gaining nothing but 'dressing room experience.'
He began the domestic season with a bang, cracking 217 against North Zone in the Duleep Trophy at Mohali. He was flown in as the reserve wicketkeeper Down Under for the first Test while Dhoni was injured.
Batting well, even after standing behind the stumps was more a case for compulsion for Ojha. "For a while, I wasn't too focused on my keeping, because if you do fear getting dropped if you don't make runs. Batting well gives you the confidence to 'keep well too," he said. Not that Ojha is ignoring his primary job. "I have been working with Kiran More on my 'keeping for the past five-six years now," he informed.