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One of the most popular sports in India, Cricket has been a regular thing in a lot of people’s routine. From worshipping Sachin Tendulkar to praising Virat Kohli or witnessing the majestic Indian captain Rohit Sharma, cricket has come a long way. But how can we forget the man who won 3 ICC trophies for India as captain? MS Dhoni is one charismatic captain whose approach to cricket was different than a lot of others. Be it his helicopter shot or his one hand glove approach to run a batsman out in the crucial stages. Dhoni changed the way how wicketkeepers are looked in the subcontinent.
A player standing behind the stumps controlling the field of play and is on the receiving end to some hostile pace bowling, a keeper is bound to have some extra protective gear. While in Cricket only one player is allowed to wear the gloves but in Baseball every player present from the fielding side can be seen wearing single glove. Yes, you heard that right! Only one piece and not a pair. You must be wondering why? Well, if you are thinking that MS’s one glove approach is the reason behind such a role then you are entirely wrong, because the one glove rule has a different meaning to it.
Initially it was considered unmanly to wear gloves in baseball and by 1880 the catcher started wearing it and by the turn of the twentieth century, most players were wearing gloves. Before those broken bones and injured finger was a common practice in the game. While you may wonder that why in baseball, right from the pitcher to catcher, first base, second base, third base and left right and center field players wear a glove and in cricket only the keeper wears it? Well to answer that question in baseball the ball is hit with more force because of the aluminum bat involved. Whereas in cricket a player usually nudges it or guides it and even if its hit brute forces the impact is slightly on the mellow side because of the wooden bat involved. And the other factor associated to is the size of the field. In baseball you can usually see the players close by and anticipating for a catch every now and then. And thus, extra protective gears are needed for every player on the field.
During a game, a baseball player can wear gloves in both hands, but the player often wears gloves in opposite throwing hand. If someone is a right-handed player, then he wears gloves in the left hand and the left-hander wears gloves in the right hand. Except for small plastic reinforcements at the base of the small finger and the thumb, and some nylon thread, a glove is made totally of leather, usually from cattle.
A cricketers wicketkeeping gloves have a lot of option. A cricketers wicketkeeping gloves have webbing, protection for the thumb, cuffs and reinforced fingers. Apart from this, the area protecting the palm is called Rubber Pimpled Palm. Talking about baseball gloves, it has a combination of web, lacing, palm, heel and hinge.
Lacing: This part is made of leather and gives shape to the baseball glove. At the same time, the joints of the fingers are stitched together. And there is also a strap with which you can adjust the glove.
Web: This is a part that connects the thumb to the tip of the other fingers and helps in catching the ball well. Whenever the ball comes in this part, it cannot go out.
Palm: This part protects us from getting hurt when we catch.
Hinge: This makes the gloves more flexible.
Heel: It protects our wrist from the impact of the ball.
