Injured India Test glovesman Wriddhiman Saha is confident of returning to first-class in December having completed his rehabilitation programme after a shoulder surgery in July.
“I am feeling much better now. I hope to be back in action by mid-December. I am preparing and training accordingly. Hope my body recovers in time and I’m fit to play (Ranji Trophy). I’ve started net sessions but I am yet to get match-fit,” Saha said during the launch of sports fiction ‘Wiki’ by noted journalist Gautam Bhattacharya at the East Bengal Tent.
It has been an extremely disappointing year for Saha, who was sent home with a hamstring injury after playing the fist Test of the year against South Africa in Cape Town.
During the IPL he had injured his thumb, which was believed to be the reason for his missing the Afghanistan Test in June.
But later it was revealed that he had a more serious shoulder injury (posterosuperior labral tear) for which he underwent a surgery in United Kingdom.
India have picked Rishabh Pant along with Parthiv Patel for the upcoming Test series in Australia.
With no Test series lined up in near future, Saha said he has to start from scratch by doing well at the domestic level.
“Everyone goes through the same cycle — of performing well at the domestic level. You have to be match-fit there and then wait for selection,” Saha said eyeing a return for Bengal in the ongoing Ranji Trophy.
Saha admitted that going through rehab was a boring affair but he’s mentally motivated.
“I always counting on the positives from childhood. Rehab obviously is a boring affair,” he admitted.
But he added,”If you are dedicated, you don’t get bored. Training schedule is same, but it’s about breaking it and keeping yourself motivated,” Saha said.
India’s best wicket-keeper, says Ganguly
A shoulder injury has forced Wriddhiman Saha out of action as of now but he has been India’s best wicketkeeper in the last five to ten years, reckons former captain Sourav Ganguly.
The 34-year-old Saha, who has been India’s number one wicket-keeper in Test cricket since MS Dhoni’s retirement in December 2014, is undergoing rehab for his shoulder surgery.
“He’s out of the team for about a year now but I think in the last five to 10 years’ he has been India’s best glovesman. Hope he recovers soon,” Ganguly said.
The former captain spoke during the launch of ‘Wiki’, a sports fiction written by senior journalist Gautam Bhattacharya. The book chronicles the journey of a struggling wicket-keeper and how he makes it big.
Young Rishabh Pant has made an impressive start to his Test career and he will take flight for the upcoming Australia tour. Parthiv Patel is also in the squad as a backup to Pant.
Saha, who has played 32 Tests and scored 1164 runs including three hundreds, last played in the Cape Town Test earlier this year. With India not playing any Tests after the Australia tour till July 2019, the Bengal wicket-keeper’s future remains uncertain.
“Injury is not in your hands. Wicket-keeper has to dive and he got injured while diving. It takes a certain time to recover. The faster he recovers, the better it is,” said Ganguly.
