Wriddhiman Saha making it count

GROS ISLET (St Lucia): After MS Dhoni’s sudden and dramatic departure from Test cricket, India were left to ponder who could slip into shoes as big as Dhoni’s as Test wicketkeeper-batsman and serve the team for a good period.
In modern-day cricket, it’s not enough for a wicketkeeper to do his job well behind the stumps and hope to be a regularly part of a team.He has to perform in front of the wicket too. The age of specialist wicketkeepers had long been over. India too were looking for someone who was also a capable batsman, at least in the lower middle-order.
Wriddhiman Saha, reserve stumper when Dhoni retired in Australia in December 2014, stepped in and has continued ever since.
There never was any doubt about his wicketkeeping abilities. What Saha needed was a few defining knocks to cement his place in the side. Unfortunately, those knocks were not coming even though he was getting those 20s and 30s. Thus, his maiden century against West Indies here on Wednesday was not only a milestone but was also an affirmation that he could be a major contributor to the team’s cause.
In fact, this fighting ton is like an icing on the cake after his fine show behind the wickets in the series, especially in the first Test, and his valuable contributions with the bat.
In the first Test at Antigua, Saha took five catches and effected a stumping in West Indies’s first innings to match the India record of six dismissals in a Test innings, held by Syed Kirmani and Dhoni. He had scores of 40 and 47 in the two innings that he batted in the series before the breakthrough hundred in Gros Islet.
Saha’s 104 came at a time when India needed them desperately. The team was reeling at 126 for five with West Indies’ attack running amok on a difficult batting track. The Saha-Ashwin partnership of 213 – India’s second best ever for the sixth wicket away from home – not only rescued India, it gave the team runs to play with in the Test.
Talking about the partnership and Saha’s batting, Ashwin said, “We batted a few times in the past. Even in Australia, we put together a gritty partnership. The thing with Saha is he puts a price on his wicket and he's a damn good player of spinners. He can tonk the ball, that I know from having played first class cricket with him.”
Incidentally, Saha made his debut as a batsman when he was drafted into the team for the Nagpur Test against South Africa in 2010. Rohit Sharma was all set to play but suffered a freak injury on the morning of the Test. The depleted team had no option to play the reserve wicketkeeper as a specialist batsman.
It was a forgettable debut and with Dhoni around, Saha had no option but patiently wait for his turn. He played another Test in January 2012 in Australia when Dhoni sat out with a ban over slow over-rate.
The affable Saha is one of the quietest members of the Indian side and shuns limelight. But he does express himself on the pitch through his cricket. He is fit as a fiddle – he floats effortlessly when he is taking a round of the ground.
With Virat Kohli demanding more from his batsmen so that he can pursue his five-bowler theory, Saha’s contributions at No. 7 must have given the captain joy and peace of mind.
In West Indies, Saha seems to have come of age as a Test cricketer. If he continues to show the same form, it will provide long-term stability to the team.