Saha Just Can’t Take it for Granted

Wriddhiman Saha probably is one of the most highly praised cricketers in domestic circuit. Because of certain M.S.Dhoni, all Saha got throughout his career was wait and sympathy. And now he automatically becomes the first choice wicketkeeper in the Indian test team. But the point is that Saha is still under testing mode and with younger wicketkeepers performing well, Saha just can’t take this opportunity for granted.

Australian Summer 2014, the venue was Adelaide Oval- Mahendra Singh Dhoni was injured and the backup Wriddhiman Saha got his lucky break to prove himself in the longer format. Nerves were clearly high on Saha amidst the daunting crowd of Australia. The finest gloveman of India missed an easy stumping chance of Steven Smith which proved costly later on. Saha also didn’t perform with the bat. After a small innings of 25 on the first occasion, he came into bat in a high pressure situation. Vijay and Kohli had wonderfully set up an impossible looking victory after Vijay got out and the middle order choked. But with Kohli in supreme touch on one side and India needing only 87 more runs from 20 overs left for the Day, all three results were possible in the game and the first time captain Virat had decided only to push for victory. All Wriddhiman Saha had to do was to support him well. He was all set to pull a well deserved chance. Saha showed his attacking mode by launching Lyon for a six and a four but only to get clean bowled the next bowl. A very important opportunity was missed only to find himself out of the team on Dhoni’s return.

In Sydney, situation was different for Saha and it was all a surprise again. Dhoni had called it a day from test cricket and Saha knew that he is not going to be fired that easily. There will now be consistent chances but yet again not only did he fail with the bat, but also performed sloppy behind the stumps missing an easy run out opportunity. Yet again in the only test at Bangladesh in a rain affected match, Saha came in with India comfortably placed and pushing for runs. Saha once again failed to pick up a googly and was clean bowled.

An average more than 44 in both First Class and List A cricket speaks a lot about this man. It was the impact of Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Indian cricket that the man with such statistics couldn’t be a part of the team. Saha was on occasions, surprisingly given a chance as a pure batsman or as a replacement to Dhoni when he was fined due to over rate issues but never could India’s finest gloveman as referred to by many, get a solid chance to show his work behind the stumps. On his debut, he was too inexperienced to handle Dale Steyn while on another occasion in Australia, he played a calm and composed innings when evryone else failed.

On the final of the IPL 2014, Wriddhiman Saha against the mighty Kolkata Knight Riders slammed an amazing century which is so much enough to show the capability of the young man. The century was against the bowling of Morne Morkel, an inform Umesh Yadav, Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan and Piyush Chawala. He had 8 sixes and 10 boundaries in his innings. Though ending up on losing side, Saha did prove that he is a brilliant limited over player too.

The point made here is about handling the nerves. He definitely is “superfit” in Virat Kohli’s words. The fact that a certifiably acrobatic wicket keeper misses a regulation runout in Sydney Cricket Ground can only be a matter of nerves. Playing for India takes you under heavy pressure. With Dhoni, it was never about pressure. He would be the same all the time. But there is nothing to scruitny about Saha’s technique. He just needs to keep his calm and handle his nerves better. With Kohli’s liking to go with 5 bowler combination, Saha has to really perform better as a batsman too. It might be too early to put him under pressure for his spot, but for India and Saha himself, it will be better if he starts performing sooner. Players like Naman Ojha, Aditya Tare and even Sanju Samson will always be looking for that golden spot. Saha has the backup of selectors and Kohli on his side, but what he needs to do is to perform very soon.