Indian team management’s decision to leave out Wriddhiman Saha came as a big surprise to many, including senior cricket analyst Harsha Bhogle. The 58-year-old slammed the team management for dropping Saha, opining that the move sends a wrong message among youngsters.
“Just up and see Saha is left out. We have just told every young keeper in India not to bother becoming the best in the world behind the stumps and instead focus on getting a few more runs in front of them. Disappointed,” he wrote on Twitter.
Just up and see Saha is left out. We have just told every young keeper in India not to bother becoming the best in the world behind the stumps and instead focus on getting a few more runs in front of them. Disappointed.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) February 21, 2020
Saha looked all set to keep his place over Rishabh but the team management decided to play the latter more as a batsman than a wicketkeeper. He (Saha) is regarded as one of the finest glovesmen but Rishabh has a great record with the bat. He has scored 754 runs in 11 Tests at 44.35, which includes centuries in England and Australia. On the other hand, Saha has 1238 runs in 37 Tests at 30.19.
Since his return, Saha has warmed the bench for just two Tests. He was kept out of playing XI for the two overseas Tests against West Indies. But the come home season, he replaced Rishabh and played all the five Test matches against South Africa and Bangladesh.
Since spin and uneven bounce will not be the case in New Zealand, the captain and coaches picked Rishabh over Saha. It remains to be seen if the move backfires or will Rishabh do well with the bat.
The visitors were reeling 122/5 at the end of play on day 1. They lost the first wicket of Prithvi Shaw in the fifth over. Cheteshwar Puara did show signs of playing a big innings but was dismissed after facing 42 deliveries.
Captain Virat Kohli again failed to leave an impact and was dismissed on a score of 2. Trent Boult broke opener Mayank Agarwal’s resistance and dismissed him for 34.
Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant put up 21 runs for the sixth wicket before rain washed out the last session of play. The home team will aim to take the remainder of five wickets in the first session on day 2 while the visitors will look to reach the mark of 250.
The play on day 2 will have at 3:30 AM.