Kolkata: Indian wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha grabbed a stunning catch behind the stumps and turned out to be a “Superman” during the opening day of the 1st Test match against Australia today.
Wriddhiman’s unbelievable catch left the players, fans, commentators completely dumbfounded on Thursday at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
Indian speedster Umesh Yadav bowled an outswinger in the 82nd over of the day and number 9 batsman Steve O’Keefe went hard at it. The outside edge flew past the stumps and in a jiffy Saha flung to his right and took an outstanding catch, one-handed. Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who was standing at first slip, could not believe his eyes. He immediately congratulated Saha for that superb effort.
Later, www.xtratime.in spoke to the leading wicket keepers in the history of Indian cricket and their reaction regarding Wriddhiman’s catch were full of excitement.
Syed Kirmani (Former Wicket Keeper) : “That was a superb catch. That catch proved how much he is ahead compare to the other wicket-keepers. He has been improving in every series. His fitness and anticipation are brilliant. He maintains a great work-ethic. In my playing career, I have taken a lot of flying catches. Among them, in the year 1979, at Chennai vs Pakistan, I took a similar catch on the leg side off Kapil Dev’s bowling to get rid of Mudassar Nazar. In 1984, at Jamshedpur, I took another great flying catch, stretching my hand towards the second slip region to get rid of Desmond Haynes off Madan Lal’s bowling. Wriddhiman’s catch took me into the flashbacks today.
Kiran More (Former Wicket Keeper): “He is the Jonty Rhodes of wicket-keeping. I think he is world’s no.1 wicket-keeper right now. It was an out-standing catch. Dream catch of a wicket-keeper. Wriddhi is getting all these successes because of his fitness, determination, hard work & work-ethics. But he needs to score runs with the bat regularly. Players like Parthiv Patel, Naman Ojha are not too far behind as well.
Saba Karim (Former Wicket Keeper): It was a magnificent catch. Haven’t seen a catch like that for many years. His confidence level is in a great height right now. The team management deserves credit for this, especially Kumble and Kohli for keeping their faith on Wriddhi.”
MSK Prasad (Chairman, National Selection Committee) : One of the best catches ever by an Indian wicket-keeper. Feeling proud for Wriddhi today. At the same time, feeling satisfied as well. We are satisfied because we have given the wicket-keeping gloves to the right person. Today, he has proven it once again that he is the number one wicket-keeper in the country.”
Jayanta Bhowmick (Wriddhi’s childhood coach): Wriddhi has only got metally stronger by spending his time in the dressing room for a long time. He trained hard regularly keep himself strong physically. Today, the catch he took, reminded me more of his dad Prasanta Saha.
Wriddhi’s quality of taking such flying catches comes from his DNA. His father was once a great goalkeeper. His father used to keep the wickets during the winter for our club Agragami Sangha. It was so easy for his dad to keep the wickets without the first and second slip. His fate didn’t give him the support to show his class at Kolkata. Otherwise he could have easily played in a top club. Today, Wriddhi’s wicket-keeping was recalling the memories of his dad.