Minutes after Wriddiman Saha sealed the fate of the Irani Cup by recording the first double hundred by a wicketkeeper in the history of the tournament, chief selector M.S.K. Prasad indicated that Saha was all but ready to take over the mantle of India’s main ‘keeper in Test cricket.
“With today’s batting, Saha showed why he is the No. 1 ’keeper-batsman in the country. When he came out to bat yesterday, the team was struggling at 63 for four and he took the game away from Gujarat which is phenomenal. So it’s a healthy competition between the two (Saha and Parthiv Patel),” Prasad said at the Brabourne stadium on Tuesday.
Saha was injured in last November, during India’s second Test against England. Parthiv Patel, his replacement, has since had a fairytale run with the bat and gloves. As the icing on the cake, Parthiv then led Gujarat to its maiden Ranji Trophy triumph, starring in the final with two crucial knocks, including a second-innings hundred.
“Saha was out of the team because of injury and not because he was out of form… I am happy how Parthiv (Patel) has responded to the call-up. He is a fighter to the core. He single-handedly brought Gujarat from nowhere to being the Ranji champion. He is among our scheme of things,” said Prasad, a former ’keeper-batsman.
“There is just a minor difference between the two. When it comes to Test cricket, it is always the man who keeps better gets the nod. Parthiv’s glove-work has definitely improved. But Saha has got better hands and that’s where he scores more points than Parthiv.”
Prasad also clarified that Saha’s inclusion in the eleven for the Irani Cup ahead of promising Ishan Kishan was only in keeping with the recent policy of testing an injured player’s match-fitness before recalling him.
“We had made it clear that someone who is coming back from injury had to play in a domestic game and this was the best opportunity,” Prasad said. “Ishan is of course an exciting talent and we still have a few more practice games coming up against foreign teams and Ishan is definitely a future prospect but right now Saha and Parthiv are the best No. 1 and 2 that we have. It was only to test fitness that we had Saha play here.”
ODI openers
With India ticking most of the boxes during the three ODIs against England, its last assignment before the Champions Trophy, the key concern area was the form of the openers.
The three openers used in the series — K.L. Rahul (24 runs in three innings), Shikhar Dhawan (12 in two) and Ajinkya Rahane (1 in one) — had a forgettable outing. But Prasad not only banked on Rohit Sharma’s comeback from injury but also backed the trio that failed to capitalise on the opportunities.
“We all know that Rohit is injured and it’s just a matter of time before he comes back. I know it would have helped the rest to get some runs under the belt but I am not worried because we have domestic limited-overs cricket and then the big event like IPL coming. All the boys will get minimum 15-16 matches before they head to the Champions Trophy. These openers will get a chance to play for the State and the franchise and will definitely come back strong,” he said.
