XtraTime Web Desk: Very few will know that cricket wasn’t the first passion for India wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. Wriddhi grew up watching live F1 races on television. He started watching F1 races a year before he started playing cricket in 1997. Hailing from a middle class family in Shaktigarh, Saha could not pursue his passion as F1 driver as it involved a lot of money. His father Prashanta Saha, who was a cricketer himself (played both football and cricket in Kolkata maidan), admitted him to Siliguri Agragami Cricket Coaching Centre. It was under Coach Jayanta Bhowmik, Wriddhi started developing the nuances of the game. As a teenager Wriddhi started as a medium pacer, but seeing his reflexes and fitness, his coach told him to take wicket keeping. Saha travelled to Kolkata to try his luck in club cricket. After plying his trade with Kumartuli club, Saha was roped in by Kalighat club, which was a big name in club cricket in Kolkata maidan. Wriddhi began his first-class career on a bright note; becoming only the 15th Bengal player to make a century on debut in the 2007-08 season. It was the same year he got an IPL contract with Kolkata Knight Riders. He also shared a 417 run stand for the sixth wicket in Ranji Trophy, which was the highest partnership then.
Saha made his test debut against South Africa on February 09, 2010 in somewhat unforeseen circumstance. The Indian cricketers were involved in a warm up session before the match. VVS Laxman, who was flowing in to Nagpur as a replacement was not fit. So, Rohit Sharma was supposed to make his test debut along with S Badrinath. But on that fateful morning of the test match, Rohit twisted his ankle and had to miss the test match.
Wriddhi, who was asked to train with the net bowlers by Gary Kirtsen leading up to the test match, suddenly found himself making test debut for India. The 36 runs he scored in the second innings against an in form Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, is a testament of his tremendous grit. His first of his three test centuries came against West Indies (104) at St Lucia on August 09, 2016. His highest test score (117) came against Australia in Ranchi on March 16, 2017. The same year he scored another hundred (106*) against Bangladesh in Hyderabad on February 09, 2017.
Wriddhiman has taken some unbelievable catches which earned him the nickname ‘Superman’. On 8 January 2018, against South Africa Saha became the first wicket-keeper for India to take ten catches in a single Test. During the Pink Ball test in Kolkata in November 2019 he became the fifth wicket-keeper for India to affect 100 dismissals in Test cricket.
A string of injuries and the emergence of Rishabh Pant coupled with weird team selections have put Saha in backseat. But no one can take away the tag of the best wicketkeeper in world cricket at the moment.