Following the infamous exit of Wriddhiman Saha from India’s Test set-up, the road ahead seems filled with uncertainty for the 37-year-old veteran wicketkeeper. From a second-choice wicketkeeper, Saha emerged as India’s go-to figure behind the wicket after the retirement of MS Dhoni and became India’s first-choice keeper for four years before Rishabh Pant came to the fore. Following injury concerns and inconsistent form, Saha’s position in the team was taken over by Pant, and after the South Africa series, it was made evident that his run with the Indian team is pretty much over.
In February, Saha revealed that the team management, including India head coach Rahul Dravid informed him that he was no longer in the scheme of things. Since then, Saha has won the IPL with newcomers Gujarat Titans, embroiled in controversies involving a journalist and the Bengal cricket team. At present, at the other end of the 30s, options may be few for Saha but the veteran keeper-batter has kept a couple of future avenues opened for himself.
“Since it has been officially made clear by the Indian team management that I won’t get picked, my main focus will be on domestic cricket – if and when I play – and then of course IPL,” Saha told SportsKeeda. No, no. As it is, it is difficult to devote time to the family, so I just want to spend some quality time with them now,” he said while dismissing the possibilities of him playing County cricket.
Saha, who was picked by the Titans at the IPL mega auction for ₹1.9 crore found a fresh lease of life. Opening the innings for GT, Saha scored 317 runs from 11 matches with three half-centuries and became the solution to GT’s opening woes. From going unsold on Day 1 to becoming an IPL winner, Saha thanked Hardik for the faith his captain showed in him and lauded him for the terrific leadership skills the all-rounder displayed in his maiden stint as captain of an IPL franchise.
“Whenever you are captain, how the responsibility of the team and the hunger to contribute increase, he has shown exactly that. He was batting at No. 6 or No. 7 in the Mumbai Indians (MI), getting just three-four overs at most, and hence had to start playing shots immediately after coming in. But coming here, he had to change his game for batting at No. 4 and ended up scoring almost 500 runs. Add to that his bowling. So, it wasn’t an easy task at all,” Saha pointed out.