T20 World Cup: Nicolas Pooran Takes a Leaf Out of Baseball; Makes Hand Signals to Guide Bowler Akeal Hosein vs England

A wicketkeeper’s position is vital for a fielding team in cricket. From field placements covering the angles around the ground to keeping the morale up of the players, a wicketkeeper is essentially the lifeline of any fielding unit. A wicketkeeper is also vital in guiding the bowler on what to bowl at a particular instance and helping the bowler execute the plan set by the captain and the team. No wonder MS Dhoni is rated so highly not just for his leadership, batting, and keeping skills but also for his game sense and control of the game behind the stumps.

And, as the game has evolved, the role of the wicketkeeper has also evolved. For instance, with the introduction of the Decision Review System, it’s the keeper’s conviction that comes to the fore in either backing the bowler’s gut feeling or refusing to be drawn into the emotions – a keeper is always on his/her toes during the game.

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Nicholas Pooran, the West Indies wicketkeeper – a former skipper himself, during his team’s T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 match against England added another dimension to the keeper’s workload, underlining the importance of an astute wicketkeeper behind the stumps for the team.

During England’s chase of the 181-run target set by West Indies, Pooran was spotted making interesting hand gestures to bowler Akeal Hosein from behind the stumps. An eagled-eyed social media user identified a pattern and deduced that Pooran was giving cues to Hosein on which delivery to bowl.

For instance, when Pooran moved his gloves left to right and clapped while being in a sitting position as Hosein trudged into his bowling stride, Hosein delivered an orthodox left-arm spinner’s delivery – slightly loopy that would leave a right-hander after pitching.

But if Pooran kept his hands stationary and only clapped once, that meant Hosein was to bowl an arm-ball—a quicker delivery fired towards the batsman, often coming in with the angle. This is quite an interesting way to communicate with the bowler, and it actually helps Pooran to be ready to receive the delivery, knowing which one is coming to him.

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However, this might be the first instance in cricket of a wicketkeeper using hand gestures to communicate with the bowler so close to the ball being delivered; it is a common practice in Baseball.

In Baseball, the catcher, equivalent to a wicketkeeper, makes visual cues with his finger to the Pitcher (comparable to a bowler in cricket). A single finger gesture denotes a Fasball to be pitched by the Pitcher. Two fingers would mean a curveball is coming his way, while three or four fingers would denote Slider and Changeup, respectively.

Well, not just in Baseball; similar hand signals are employed by Tennis and Badminton players as well during Doubles games. During the serve, the player at the net would signal behind his back to his serving partner on what kind of service should be served to catch the opponent off-guard.

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