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Saha stands behind Virat Kohli, says criticism against him unfortunate

[caption id="attachment_40232" align="aligncenter" width="580"] Wriddhiman Saha at the Netaji Subhash International airport on Wednesday. Image Source: Xtra Time[/caption] Kolkata: Indian wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha feels it is unfair for Australian media to target Virat Kohli. Saha, who returned home on Wednesday, stood by the side of his captain. The wicket-keeper from Bengal, who played his role to perfection returned home today along with Md Shami. In-spite of a hurry to reach his South City residence, Saha gave a free-wheeling interview to xtratime.in correspondent Sabyasachi Bagchi. Here are the excerpts: The tensions will stay on between the players from both sides after Virat’s remarks yesterday. With the IPL round the corner, how difficult will it be for the Indian players to brush shoulders with the Aussies in the same dressing room? We as professional cricketers need to move forward. I do not want to look behind. Glenn Maxwell was involved in a mocking gesture towards Kohli in Ranchi, where he was seen holding his shoulders after stopping a ball in the boundary. How will you and Vijay get along with Maxwell who will be leading Kings XI Punjab? It will depend on what the Kings XI management instructs the players. Another Aussie cricketer Mathew Wade was continuously sledging at Jadeja in Dharamsala. What exactly was he saying, since you were at the other end? I could not hear as I was at the non-strikers end. Do you support Virat’s comment? It was his opinion. But what has come out in certain section is Australian media that he was hiding his injury to play in the IPL is rubbish. He is not someone who will shy away from the action. Inspite of not being able to take the field, he kept on inspiring us. He gave his inputs whenever he felt about sharing it. It was somewhat uncharacteristic to see you sledge in Ranchi. What happened that you had a go at Hazzlewood in the third test?   I did not sledge at all. I just told him to go back and bowl. He was constantly having a go at me and kept on sledging which I didn’t felt interested about. I was happy with my own batting. So, I told him to go and concentrate on his own bowling. The series saw too much sledging from both sides. How did you react when the Aussies sledged at you? I have always enjoyed sledging in any format of the game. I have enjoyed it during domestic cricket as well. Your partnership with Pujara in Ranchi has been one of the highlights of the series so far. You also shared a crucial partnership with Jadeja in the first innings of the Dharamsala test. What would you say about the two partnerships? I am happy that I could contribute to the team’s cause. The hundred you scored was at Dhoni’s hometown in Ranchi. What would you say? I am happy that I could score a hundred, which helped in the team’s cause. It does not matter which ground I scored the hundred. Ever since you got into the Indian side, would you say it is the best series for you? It was a very competitive series I must admit. Australians have always been a tough side as their records suggests they have done well in all countries. Both the teams played a very competitive brand of cricket. And to do well against a team like Australia, always gives you a lot of confidence. The series saw two players with contrasting attitude leading India. How do you compare Virat and Rahane’s captaincy? Our aim was to win the series and we are happy that we have been successful in our mission. Whether it was Virat or Rahane, it did not matter to us as we were all focused to win the series. And Rahane had to lead because of an injury to Virat. You have now scored three test hundreds. Sourav has said time and again that the century you scored against West Indies transformed you as a cricketer. Do you agree? The century at St Lucia was equally important as we were 120/5. Our partnership (with Ashwin) was very crucial in the context of the game. But the century against Australia will always be special. Kuldeep Yadav has already made headlines with his bowling. What is your assessment about him? He has been an outstanding bowler for India. He has always done well wherever he played. Lastly, how did the team celebrate the series win last night? We played a game of soccer after the match. Later we had a team dinner at the night.