Wriddhiman Saha is one of the most unfortunate cricketers as his career coincided with two extraordinary wicketkeepers' - MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant.
In preparation for the home Test series against Sri Lanka, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had announced the Indian squad, naming Rohit Sharma as the Test captain. Senior Indian middle-order batters Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara were dropped from the Indian Test squad for the upcoming two-match Test series. Not just these two, senior Indian pacer Ishant Sharma and wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha were also dropped and were told to perform well in the Ranji Trophy 2022.
While the two batters are performing in domestic cricket, there is no news on Ishant Sharma playing or not. As for Saha, he excused himself stating personal reasons. Among all four players, Saha is surely one of the most unfortunate cricketers. His career had coincided with two extraordinary wicketkeepers' - MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant.
MS Dhoni had kept him out during the first half of his career, and now he has been fighting the only Indian wicketkeeper to go on to score centuries in Australia, England and South Africa. In between all this, injuries robbed him of Tests, which only meant that his career is likely to end. Also, it would not make sense to have a 37-year-old as the backup keeper when Pant (24-years-old) is ruling across conditions.
And to say this is where all the issues began would be an understatement. After BCCI gave KS Bharat a chance to be the backup wicketkeeper for the upcoming Test, Chetan Sharma, the chairman of India's selection committee, said that he wanted the four senior players to play domestic and return. However, according to Saha, the statements were not correct.
So let's see what we know so far.
1. Chetan Sharma's statement on why Wriddhiman Saha is not part of Test team
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Chetan Sharma had stressed that the selection committee is of the view that the Test team will heavily rely on the players' performance in the Indian domestic circuit. However, earlier, it was reported by PTI that Wriddhiman had pulled out of Ranji Trophy after he was told that he won't be selected for the Indian team.
When Chetan Sharma was asked in the press conference the reason behind Saha's axing, he had said, "I can't tell you on what grounds he (Saha) has been dropped. It is for the selectors. All I can tell you is that he was told before."
2. Wriddhiman Saha quashes Chetan Sharma's claim
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The 37-year-old Indian wicket-keeper batter opposed the comments of Team India's chairman of selectors, Chetan Sharma, who claimed that the senior players are being left out only for the Sri Lanka series.
"Chetan Sharma told me that they will not consider me for the Sri Lanka series. I asked him whether it is just for the Sri Lanka series, or if it also beyond that? He took a pause and then said, from now on, you will not be considered," Saha was quoted as saying to Sportstar.
"I asked him the same question – whether it is for my performance or for my age? He said that they were looking at a younger talent. But he also advised me to play the Ranji Trophy, but the call is yours," Saha added.
3. Wriddhiman Saha speaks about Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid
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Wriddhiman Saha said that the team management headed by head coach Rahul Dravid had told him to think about "retirement". He had told media persons on Saturday, "Yes, the team management told me that I would not be considered henceforth. I could not tell this so long as I was part of the India team setup.
"Even coach Rahul Dravid suggested that I think about taking retirement," Wriddhiman Saha further added.
"When I hit an unbeaten 61 taking a painkiller in the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur last November, Dadi (as Sourav Ganguly was referred to by Bengal players) congratulated me over Whatsapp. He even mentioned that I should not worry about anything as long as he is at the helm of the BCCI. Such a message from the board President really boosted my confidence. But I failed to understand why everything changed so fast," Wriddhiman Saha vented.
4. Wriddhiman Saha shares screenshot of messages from a 'journalist'
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Amid all this, Wriddhiman Saha on Saturday night also shared a screenshot of messages he received from a journalist. Slamming the journalist, Saha wrote on Twitter: "After all of my contributions to Indian cricket..this is what I face from a so-called "Respected" journalist! This is where the journalism has gone."
After all of my contributions to Indian cricket..this is what I face from a so called “Respected” journalist! This is where the journalism has gone. pic.twitter.com/woVyq1sOZX
— Wriddhiman Saha (@Wriddhipops) February 19, 2022
5. Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Ravi Shastri react to Wriddhiman Saha's 'journalist' tweet
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Former India cricketers Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh both retweeted Wriddhiman Saha's story and tagged BCCI to take action.
Extremely sad. Such sense of entitlement, neither is he respected nor a journalist, just chamchagiri.
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) February 20, 2022
With you Wriddhi. https://t.co/A4z47oFtlD
Wridhi you just name the person so that the cricket community knows who operates like this. Else even the good ones will be put under suspicion.. What kind of journalism is this ? @BCCI @Wriddhipops @JayShah @SGanguly99 @ThakurArunS players should be protected https://t.co/sIkqtIHsvt
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) February 20, 2022
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri on Sunday also lashed out at the reporter for threatening Wriddhiman Saha for an interview and has called for an intervention from BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.
Shocking a player being threatened by a journo. Blatant position abuse. Something that's happening too frequently with #TeamIndia. Time for the BCCI PREZ to dive in. Find out who the person is in the interest of every cricketer. This is serious coming from ultimate team man WS https://t.co/gaRyfYVCrs
— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) February 20, 2022
6. Rahul Dravid talks about Wriddhiman Saha's statement against him
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Moments after India's 3-0 T20I series win over West Indies, head coach Rahul Dravid was asked about the selection call and about his private conversation being played out in public.
"I'm not hurt at all," Dravid said. "I have a deep respect for Wriddhiman Saha and his achievements and contributions to Indian cricket. My conversation with him actually came from that place, from my respect for him. He deserved honesty and clarity. I didn't want him to hear about it from the media.
"These are conversations I constantly have with players. I'm not hurt about it at all because I don't expect players to always like all the messages, or agree with everything I have to say about them. That's not how it works. When you have difficult conversations with people, sometimes you have to have them with players. You don't always expect them to agree with you or like with you, but that doesn't mean you brush it under the carpet and don't have the conversations."
"Before every playing XI is picked, even now, either I or Rohit will speak to the guys not playing and are open to answer questions on why they are not playing and what are the reasons a particular XI might play. I'm not hurt by it. It's natural for players at times to get upset and feel hurt, but I just feel that because of the respect I have for them, my team deserved clarity and honesty, and that's all I was trying to convey."
7. BCCI to investigate Wriddhiman Saha's quote and tweet
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According to a report by the Times of India, the BCCI is calling for a "thorough investigation" of the WhatsApp messages the cricketer received from a journalist.
The BCCI will be looking to delve deep into the crisis and also find out if any other cricketer has gone through a similar experience. "Saha is a contracted cricketer of the BCCI. The onus is on the Board to not let its own player down. That aside, if there is any kind of a nexus at work here, one has to look into it," an official told TOI.
8. BCCI to investigate Wriddhiman Saha's statement on Sourav Ganguly
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The TOI also reported that BCCI officials are asking 'in what capacity did Ganguly give Saha any assurances on selection?'
"The Rahul Dravid-bit is understandable. He's the national coach and may have wanted to keep his players in the loop. That's between the coach and the players. What was the need for a BCCI official to speak with Saha and assure him of a place in the side? 'I don't need to worry till he's there'. Kitni galat baat hai yeh (How wrong it is to say something like this)," officials add.
