His main role or primary objective is to just stay there for the day's play and then next day, his role depends on the circumstances. Most of the time, he is asked to just stay there and save one end.
Next day, opposition teams first target is the Night Watchman. He is a non-regular batsman that is sent in to save one end. Opposition team wants to get him as early as possible so that they can have a good start.
There has been a lot of good innings from the Night Watchmen but the inning which forced me to write on this topic is Shoaib's innings in the 3rd test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka being played in Karachi. Shoaib faced 42 balls and did not make even a single score but he achieved his aim.
Usually a non-regular batsman is send as Night Watchman. Bowlers who can bat a bit are usually the top contenders for this place. The main criterion to become a Night Watchman is to be a bowler and then you should know something about how to bat.
Night watchman is a batsman, which causes most irritation to the bowling team if he is not getting out. When it happens it is the most irritating thing for the bowling team.
There are many bowlers who have been used as night watchman. Shane Warne, Saqlain, Waqar, Shoaib, Srinath, Kumble, Ambrose and many other bowlers have been used for this duty. To select the best out of them is extremely difficult and each one of them has played beautifully on his day.
Shortly, Night Watchman plays an important role. It's mainly a risk. He might fail but his success can cause a lot of mental stress and irritation to bowling team and in big matches that's where the matches are decided.
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