KOLKATA: He made his Test debut as a batsman against South Africa at Nagpur in 2010. Ten years since,
Wriddhiman Saha has played 38 Tests and has three centuries and five fifties to his name.
For years now he has been the No. 1
wicketkeeper
for India in the longest format, but somewhere his batting has not complemented his abilities as a 'keeper.
In the recently concluded Test series in Australia, which India won 2-1, Saha was dropped after the day-night match in Adelaide.
Saha managed just 9 and 4 in the two innings during the pink-ball Test, which included India's historic low of 36 all out in the second innings. In the next three Tests,
Rishabh Pant was preferred over the senior pro.
Asked if it was a setback watching Pant march over him, the Bengal 'keeper said, “I have been hearing these comparisons since 2018. I believe in doing my job and I am not worried about how Pant is batting.
“I don’t want to change my game because of that. It’s up to the team management to decide who will stand behind the stumps,” Saha told TOI during a chat.
The 36-year-old, though, regrets his shot selection against Mitchell Starc in the first innings in Adelaide.
“It was way outside off and I made a wrong choice, but in the second innings the flick though the midwicket is something I always play. It was unfortunate that it found the fielder. That was just a bad day for us,” Saha added.
In the post Adam Gilchirst and MS Dhoni era, which redefined wicketkeepers as all-rounders, Saha is one of the few who still calls himself a specialist 'keeper.
“There are situations when a missed chance can change the result of a match.
Wicketkeeping
is a specialist job, especially in Test
cricket
. I am not claiming to hold on to every catch that comes my way, but this is a specialist position and should remain so,” Saha said.