An excellent gloveman and an underrated batter, Wriddhiman Saha hanged his boots on February 1 after playing his last match for Bengal in Ranji Trophy 2024-25. Saha, who represented India in 40 Tests, nine ODIs, was offered a coaching job by his former Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise but he refused it because he felt he was not ready.
When asked about life after cricket and whether he will be open to coaching jobs, Saha said he will think about it but not now.
"If I get a good offer, I'll think about it. I'm currently coaching at two-three places and spending time with children. I had an offer from KKR, but I refused, saying I need to gain more experience as a coach to do justice to the job," Saha told India Today in an exclusive interview.
Saha's IPL debut for KKR
Saha made his IPL debut for KKR in the inaugural edition where he played 12 games and scored 159 runs from 10 innings at an average of 31.80. After three seasons, KKR released him and then he played for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) under the leadership of MS Dhoni. In 2011, he became the part of an IPL-winning squad.
The last season when PBKS qualified for an IPL final
However, his best came for Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab). In IPL 2014 when PBKS reached the final, Saha scored an unbeaten 115 in the final against his former franchise KKR but Manish Pandey's unbeaten knock meant the Bengal wicketkeeper would end on the losing side. In that season, he scored 362 runs from 13 innings at an average of 32.90. He played two more seasons for PBKS before he was released.
Saha's stint at SRH
In IPL 2018, he joined the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) but got limited opportunities. In IPL 2020, he scored 214 runs from just four innings at an average of 71.33 including two half-centuries.
Saha wins IPL again
In IPL 2022, he became a part of the new franchise Gujarat Titans (GT). In the first season with GT, he scored 317 runs from 11 innings at an average of 31.70 including three fifties. The Pandya-led side went on to win the title. In the following season, he recorded his highest tally of runs in an IPL edition. He scored 371 runs from 17 innings at an average of 23.18 including two half-centuries. In 2024, he did not score a single half-century.