Team India’s wicketkeeping scene in Test cricket has been pretty good after MS Dhoni’s retirement in 2014. Wriddhiman Saha from Bengal took over from Dhoni despite playing his understudy for quite some time.
However, some turmoil happened when Saha was out of action for 20 months due to a shoulder and then a finger injury, which saw the Indian team trying out Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel in his place. During this trial, they hit pay dirt with Rishabh Pant, who slammed centuries in England and Australia and good performances against West Indies as well.
But his poor work with gloves behind the stumps led to Saha coming back in the team for the Test series against South Africa and he has proven his worth behind the stumps with some terrific catches and safe hands, giving assurances to spinners and quick bowlers alike that the edges will be pouched.
Talking ahead of the third Test at Ranchi, Saha talked about his relationship with understudy Pant. He said, “There’s nothing (mentoring) like that. We just discuss normally the way the wicketkeepers discuss. With Sridhar and Pant, we three jointly decide on how to go about our wicketkeeping on a particular type of wicket. We always observe each other’s wicket-keeping. We work hard in our practice sessions and have a good understanding and co-ordination among ourselves. We always try to point out each other’s mistakes. It’s been going well so far.”
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Sourav Ganguly had talked about how Saha needed to work on his batting and the best-rated keeper in the world, said, “Whoever plays in the team wants to contribute. As a wicketkeeper, I look to get some time in the middle and if I get time I try to build a partnership and score a fifty or so. Everyone tries like that. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.”
Saha has scored a century here in the only Test played on the JSCA ground, against Australia in 2017. He has fond memories of the same. “I have a good memory of the last match. I made 117 in the last match. I remember how I approached the innings. I also remember the Steve Smith incident. If you see we drew it last time. We are 2-0 up in the series so this time we will try to make it 3-0 this time,” he concluded.
“It’s tough everywhere. Wicketkeeping is a thankless job and people think that he should take all the ball since he’s wearing a pair of gloves. It’s not easy like that, especially on a track with uneven bounce and turns. We prepare according to the wicket,” the wicketkeeper said.
“I was out for a long time because of injury. I got a chance only after performing in the domestic and India A matches. I always continued the same preparation for batting and wicketkeeping and finally got an opportunity. I’m really happy to have contributed to the team,” Saha, who made a comeback in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s earlier this year, said.
(PTI inputs)
