Explained why BCCI overlooked Wriddhiman Saha and chose Ishan Kishan as KL Rahul's replacement for WTC 2023 final

A report in PTI explained the rationale behind Kishan's selection over Saha.

BCCI's selection committee, on Monday, named Ishan Kishan as the replacement for KL Rahul, who had injured his upper right thigh during the ongoing IPL 2023, for the World Test Championship (WTC 2023) final against Australia next month.

Last week, Rahul, captain of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), had ruled himself out of the WTC final after incurring an injury while fielding in an IPL match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

However multiple fans on social media were unhappy about Ishan Kishan being chosen over the more experienced Wriddhiman Saha for India's World Test Championship squad.  Many expected the selectors to continue their ways and take the most experienced player for this one-off test match against Australia.

Selectors had picked Ajinkya Rahane after Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the match due to surgery on the back. Hence many felt that Wriddhiman Saha should have been the picked in place of injured KL Rahul as the back up wicket-keeping option to the first choice KS Bharat.

Saha had last played a Test for India in 2021, however, he had defied his age and kept very well for the Gujarat Titans in the ongoing IPL 2023 tournament hence when he was overlooked for Ishan Kishan in the WTC squad, enrage ensued on social media.

IPL 2023: 'Rohit Sharma should take a break and keep himself fit for WTC final'- Sunil Gavaskar

However, a report by PTI explained that the selection committee, under interim chief Shiv Sunder Das, backed Ishan for the role. It only showed continuity given that he was picked as the backup wicketkeeping option in the Border-Gavaskar series as well. Saha's name was never even taken during the discussion for the second keeper's role.

"Kishan was the designated second keeper for Border Gavaskar Trophy. There was no discussion on Wriddhiman Saha," a source privy told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

There was also an uproar over India A skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran missing from the stand-by list where Ruturaj Gaikwad got picked with Mukesh Kumar and Suryakumar Yadav. Easwaran's India A record was the reason why fans felt that he should’ve been picked in standbys.

The PTI report explained how the runs are scored for the selection committee, against which type of attacks, and under what conditions matter more than the volume of runs scored. Easwaran’s inability to be roped in by any of the IPL franchises or win any major knockout game for Bengal went against him.

(PTI inputs)