With Nayan Mongia deciding to hang up his gloves for the last time after his omission from the Baroda team, the curtains have come down on the career of one of India's most successful wicketkeepers. The end came in a way that can be best described as ignominious. It was unfortunate that someone who played for the country with such distinction throughout the 90's had to quit after being dropped from his domestic team.

Although Syed Kirmani will always be regarded as India's best keeper, those who grew up watching Nayan Mongia behind the stumps will certainly agree that the Baroda stumper was one of the finest glovemen to play for the country. In fact, his keeping to Kumble on viciously turning Indian tracks was one of the most unforgettable sights in Test cricket. But the man never really got his due. While the Sachins and Gangulys reaped rich rewards and praise from all quarters, Mongia's contribution went almost unnoticed. It is said that one realises the importance of something only when it is taken away. That's exactly what Indian cricket experienced after Mongia was unceremoniously thrown out of the side for his alleged role in 'match-fixing'. We haven't been able to find a stable keeper after his exit. Numerous ones have been tried since he fell out of favour with the men-who-matter in 1999, but none of them has been able to do half as well. MSK Prasad, Saba Karim, Vijay Dahiya, Sameer Dighe, Deep Dasgupta and Ajay Ratra, all came and went without leaving much of an impression. In 2002, Parthiv Patel arrived on the scene, and for a brief while, everyone felt that India's quest for a genuine keeper had ended. But as things turned out, he too faded away. Now India has shown faith in Dinesh Karthik, but he still has a long way to go.

Mongia's 'alleged' role in match-fixing wasn't the only reason for his final axing from the Indian team at the end of the historic Kolkata Test against Australia in 2000-01. After all, his name had been cleared from the controversy while the involvement of other players had been proved. There were reports in the media during the series that claimed that Sourav Ganguly did not want Mongia in the team as he felt that the latter had an 'attitude problem'. These charges remained unsubstantiated, but the fact was that the selectors did not bother to explain why Mongia had been dropped. All the experiments conducted by the Indian selectors behind the wickets since then have proved futile.

Of course, what has happened cannot be undone, and one can only sit back and relive some of the glorious moments that Nayan Mongia contributed to Indian cricket.

As mentioned earlier, his keeping to Anil Kumble was one of the highlights of the 90s. Kumble and his spin-cohorts benefited immensely by Mongia's assured presence behind the stumps; something that has been denied to Harbhajan Singh, Murali Karthik and Kumble himself in recent times. At the height of his powers, Mongia could pull off the most incredible of dismissals. His catch to dismiss Azhar Mahmood off Kumble in the '99 World Cup is a prime example. That prized catch was later named the 'Catch of the Tournament'.

Mongia was no mug with the bat either. His 152 against Australia in the inaugural Test played for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in1996-97 was a knock of the highest quality. He accepted the challenge of opening the innings and turned out to be one of the best 'makeshift' openers tried by India since the retirement of Sunil Gavaskar.

 

That 152 turned out to be a match-winning knock, enabling a 23 year-old Sachin Tendulkar to make a winning start to his first innings as India's Test captain. Mongia's 52 in a losing cause against Pakistan at Chennai, wherein he fought hard with Tendulkar, was a fighting effort too. But he undid all the hard work by playing a rash shot against the run of play, and India eventually slid to a 12-run defeat, a loss that still rankles.

Everything said and done, Mongia's keeping standards were always of the highest quality throughout his international career that spanned eight seasons. He took innumerable blows all over his face (most of them courtesy Anil Kumble), and some on his fingers as well. In a way, he revolutionised wicketkeeping by wearing a helmet with a grill while standing up to the stumps to prevent injury. Virtually every wicketkeeper in world cricket does this nowadays.

Adam Gilchrist may find a place in every World XI courtesy his super-special batting abilities. But if one considers keeping ability alone, Nayan Mongia was the best the world had seen in the 90s. And this is no exaggeration. Though he couldn't fulfil his potential due to unforeseen circumstances, Mongia will always be remembered as a great servant of Indian cricket and his chants like 'Shabash Jumbo' and 'Aai Gaaa' will echo in the minds of Indian cricket-lovers forever.