After being dropped from the Indian Test squad for the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka, veteran wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha claimed BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had assured him that he shouldn't worry about his place in the team.
Since first-choice wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant was rested for the home Test series against New Zealand last year, Saha got the opportunity to play the two red-ball games.
After he scored a crucial half-century in the second innings of the Kanpur Test, Saha received a text from Ganguly, who allegedly told the stumper to not worry about anything as long as he is at the helm of the BCCI.
"When I hit an unbeaten 61 taking a pain-killer in the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur last November, Dadi (as Sourav was referred to by Bengal players) congratulated me over Whatsapp,” Saha told media persons on Saturday (February 19), as quoted by PTI.
"He even mentioned that I should not worry about anything so long as he is at the helm of the BCCI. Such a message from the board president really boosted my confidence. But I failed to understand why everything changed so fast," he added.
Notably, Chetan Sharma-led selection committee named squads for the Sri Lanka series on Saturday and besides Saha, Test specialists Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were also axed from the squad. Veteran pacer Ishant Sharma too was discarded by the selectors.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma was named the captain of the side in the longest format as well. The two-Test series between India and Sri Lanka is due to get underway on March 4 in Mohali.
India Test squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, KS Bharat, R Ashwin (fitness), Ravi Jadeja, Jayant Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Saurabh Kumar.
