Internet Desk: Wriddhiman Saha had a great test match so far as he took ten catches for India in the first test to set a record at Newlands, Cape Town. Earlier his teammate Ajinkya Rahane was only Indian to grab 8 catches against Sri Lanka at Galle. His former captain M.S Dhoni had nine dismissals including eight catches and a stump against Australia at Melbourne.
He proved himself in every condition especially after M.S Dhoni’s retirement. India never missed Mahi’s presence as Wriddhi did his job quite brilliantly behind the stumps. He had to compete with his seniors like Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik to make his place in the team. He batted well in the tests with the average of 32.11 as he scored 1156 runs in 44 innings he played.
A few fine performances for India A helped Saha earn his maiden Test call-up in early 2010 as the team’s reserve wicketkeeper with his chances of debuting next to impossible. However India’s bizarre decision to go into the series with just seven specialist batsmen backfired as Laxman and Rohit Sharma injured themselves before the game and with little time left, Saha was quickly drafted in as a specialist batsman. The nerves showed as he got out on a duck in the first innings but was more watchful in his second scoring 36. Dropped thereafter, he returned to the ODI version in late 2010, debuting against New Zealand after MS Dhoni was rested for the series. In 2011, he earned a surprise call-up to India’s ODI squad for the series in the West Indies, in the absence of most of the senior players.
World Cup winning wicketkeeper for India Syed Kirmani said, “It’s great to watch Saha’s conventional wicket keeping adjusting with pace and bounce. After many years I have seen it. He is a quiet player but he had shown aggression with his performance. Still, I would say if India wants to be successful Saha have to perform well with the bat. He is the best wicketkeeper now but, he shouldn’t give any chance to the selectors to replace him.”
Another wicketkeeper from Bengal Sambaran Banerjee said,”Outstanding performance from Wriddhiman. De Kock also did well behind the stumps but, Wriddhi made better performance in this test. He adjusted very well with the conditions and pace. I would advise the young players to watch his wicketkeeping to improve the skills behind the stumps. “