India's experienced wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha made his last Ranji Trophy appearance on February 21. Considered as one of the finest wicketkeepers the country has produced, Saha contributed with the bat down the order as well. However, with Rishabh Pant becoming the 'X factor' in the Test team, Saha was overlooked. He wasn't considered for a comeback even after Pant's unfortunate accident as Srikar Bharat got a chance. After retiring from all forms, Saha opened up about the Test snub he faced in 2021 as he felt he had enough juice to play a few more years for the country.
"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 2-3 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," said Saha.
Saha wins IPL after Test snub
After getting dropped from the Test squad, Saha played under the leadership of Hardik Pandya for one of the two new Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises, Gujarat Titans (GT). Saha got a crucial role in the team and scored 317 runs from 11 innings at an average of 31.70 including three fifties. GT went on to win the IPL title in their maiden season.
Saha's diplomatic answer on best captain he has played under
Saha made his Test debut under MS Dhoni and played as a non-wicketkeeper. He played under Sourav Ganguly's captaincy for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Virat Kohli in the national side. Interestingly, he did not name any favourite and called all of them as cool captains.
"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," he said.
Saha's Test statistics
The Bengal-born cricketer has played 40 Tests and scored 1,353 runs at an average of 29.41 including three centuries and six fifties. The 40-year-old has 92 catches and 92 catches and 12 stumpings to his name as well.