India’s former wicket-keeper batter, Wriddhiman Saha, featured in his last game during the final group-stage encounter of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 for Bengal against Punjab at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The right-handed batter couldn’t open his account in the contest and was dismissed for a seven-ball duck.
Bengal finished with a victory at their home ground with a margin of innings of 13 runs. Wriddhiman Saha is still considered to be one of the finest wicket-keepers in the country, as he contributed with the bat in the middle order, besides his extreme skill with the glove.
The right-handed batter didn’t enjoy a great time in this red-ball season. Against Karnataka at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Saha managed an unbeaten 63 runs during the second innings. It was a glorious occasion for the batter, who was also felicitated by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) on the opening day of the Punjab clash.
Wriddhiman Saha gives a diplomatic answer to select the best captain he has played under
Wriddhiman Saha finished with 1353 Test runs in 56 innings at an average of 29.41 and a strike rate of 45.50, with the help of three centuries and six half-centuries at the best score of 117. He finished his first-class career with 7169 runs in 210 innings at an average of 41.43 and a strike rate of nearly 50, shouldering on 14 centuries and 44 half-centuries at the best score of unbeaten 203 runs.
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The 40-year-old’s final Test match came during the two-match home series against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. He managed 40 runs in two innings of the fixture as India clinched a 372-run victory against the Blackcaps.
Rishabh Pant, meanwhile, became the ‘X factor’ in the longest format for the blue brigade, as Saha was overlooked. He wasn’t even considered to make a comeback on the international side after the unfortunate car accident of Pant, which ruled him out of the game for more than a year. Srikar Bharat got the chance and featured in their 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at the Kennington Oval in South London.
Wriddhiman Saha opened up about the Test snub in 2021, as he felt that he had enough juice to play for the country in the next few years.
“The team management decided not to keep me in the team. I had planned to play for some more time. I thought I would play two to three years more for India, but unfortunately, they looked for long-term players and had different choices. There’s no second thought, and I had to focus on IPL and domestic cricket.” The veteran was addressed during a recent interaction.
After getting dropped from the Test squad, his focus turned to the Indian Premier League (IPL). He played a crucial role for the Gujarat Titans under the leadership of Hardik Pandya during the maiden title-winning campaign in 2022.
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In that season, the experienced batter managed 317 runs in 11 innings at an average of 31.70 and a strike rate of 122.39 with the help of three half-centuries at the best score of 68. He followed it up with 371 runs in 17 innings during IPL 2023 at a strike rate of around 130, celebrating a couple of fifties.
“I‘ve played a lot under Virat Kohli, and whoever plays under a captain tends to like them. Virat developed as a captain day by day. Dhoni was very cool, and Dada (Sourav Ganguly) had excellent game-reading abilities. I liked all the cool captains.” Wriddhiman Saha expressed.