Wriddhiman Saha has received immense support from the Indian cricket fraternity after the wicketkeeper shared a screenshot of messages from a journalist, forcing him for an interview.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag lashed out at the journalist involved, calling him a sycophant, while former coach Ravi Shastri urged BCCI President Sourav Ganguly to look into the matter.
Wriddhiman Saha Received Immense Support From The Indian Cricket Fraternity
Former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad on Monday joined the debate and slammed the journalist involved. In a series of tweet, the ex-cricketer wrote while there are sports journalists who respect players boundaries, but pointed fingers at others, who try to sensationalise with no knowledge and substance.
He also called out the players feeding these journalists with unnecessary access because they enjoy the buttering. Wriddhiman Saha had tweeted the screenshot on Sunday night. Upon rejection of an interview, the journalist was offended and began threatening Wriddhiman Saha, who has been a loyal servant to Indian cricket. The threats evoked a series of responses from the cricketing fraternity.
He wrote: “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.”
Meanwhile, India’s Test squad for the Sri Lanka series saw a number of changes as a host of senior players – Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ishant Sharma, and Wriddhiman Saha were not a part of it.
Wridhiman Saha Was Dropped For 2 Tests Against Sri Lanka And Isn’t playing Ranji Trophy 2022:
While clarification was issued on the absence of terribly out of form batters Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, chief selector Chetan Sharma remained tight-lipped on the reasons behind the exclusion of wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha.
“Look, age isn’t something we give a lot of credence. On what grounds Wriddhi has been dropped, we can’t tell you,” Chetan had said in a press conference on Saturday.
“But there comes a time when you start thinking about youngsters when you don’t play for long. Also, I don’t know why Saha is not playing Ranji Trophy. That’s not my jurisdiction and that’s what state unit must look into,” the chief selector further said.
Earlier, Wriddhiman Saha had stated that he wanted to take a break after being on the road for the series against New Zealand and the tour of South Africa.
“People take a break to have family time or for other personal reasons, even Virat Kohli took paternity leave. So, why are questions being raised when I decided to take a break from Ranji Trophy?” Saha was quoted as saying in interaction last week.
The scandal also comes to light after Saha’s exclusion from the Indian team and his subsequent break from the Ranji Trophy 2022 season. He was told by Rahul Dravid that he may not be in the fray anymore and young keepers are being groomed with the future in mind.
Keeper Wriddhiman Saha overall played 40 Tests as he scored 1353 runs with an average of 29.41 with 3 hundreds and 6 fifties. He also caused 104 dismissals behind the stump which included 12 stumping as well. Wriddhiman Saha made his Test debut against South Africa in Nagpur in 2010. He also played 9 ODIs for India. In the IPL 2022 mega auction, Gujarat Titans bagged him for 1.9 Crores.
Wriddhiman Saha pulled out of Ranji Trophy 2022 as he was told that he won’t be selected for the Test squad. The last time Wriddhiman Saha got a chance in the final XI, was against New Zealand in Mumbai Test, as regular keeper, Rishabh Pant was rested.