Wriddhiman Saha has decided to spill some beans about his conversation with head coach Rahul Dravid and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly following his axing from the Test side. On Saturday, chief selector Chetan Sharma announced the squad to host Sri Lanka for Tests in March.
The selectors have decided to drop 4 seniors: Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, and Ishant Sharma, with Chetan Sharma revealing that they had told these four players that they won’t be selected for the Sri Lanka series and requested them to play in the Ranji Trophy. Pujara and Rahane are playing in the domestic tournament while Ishant and Saha opted out for personal reasons.
Soon after, Wriddhiman Saha revealed that head coach Rahul Dravid had tacitly suggested the 37-year-old retires from Test cricket as he was going to be dropped.
“Yes, the team management told me that I would not be considered henceforth. I could not tell this so long as I was part of the India team setup. Even coach Rahul Dravid suggested that I think about taking retirement,” Saha was quoted as saying by Times Of India.
This suggestion from Dravid and his removal from the Test squad came as a surprise to Saha, who also revealed that Ganguly had earlier assured him of a place in the squad after his brilliant innings in Kanpur against the Kiwis.
“When I hit an unbeaten 61 taking a painkiller in the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur last November, Dadi (as Sourav Ganguly was referred to by Bengal players) congratulated me over Whatsapp. He even mentioned that I should not worry about anything as long as he is at the helm of the BCCI. Such a message from the board President really boosted my confidence. But I failed to understand why everything changed so fast,” Saha further revealed.
Some fans have been left upset about this treatment of the veteran wicket-keeper, who is considered the best gloveman in the country. While some other fans believe that it was the right decision to drop Wriddhiman Saha.
Saha Exposed Ganguly , Chetan , dravid , boria in a single day ?? https://t.co/keJ4CgTcVa
— “ (@KohlifiedGal) February 19, 2022
BCCI doing the same thing with Virat Kohli about the captaincy what they are doing with Wriddhiman Saha now!Never fond of Chetan Sharma as chief selector & Sourav Ganguly as BCCI president.!
— Deep Point (@Cric_spidey) February 20, 2022
Just think about Virat Kohli after this Saha incident that boria and Ganguly are trying to break a mentally strong man like Virat Kohli, Indian Cricket is in really bad hands this is pure politics…. ?
— Shivansh Singh (@sher_singh_18) February 19, 2022
So it’s clear who was lying …As Saha Said Ganguly told him his place is confirm in India’s Test squad.
That means Chetan Sharma also lied in that press conferenceI think that was the reason why Virat Kohli resigned from India’s Test Captaincy
— Gaurav (@Kohli4ever) February 19, 2022
Lied to saha
Lied about CAB crowd a week back
Lied to media during captaincy sagaAll these in the last 2 months..ganguly what a liar
There are people who still think that Virat was the one who was lying in that pc ?
— A (@_shortarmjab_) February 19, 2022
Sourav Ganguly is here to destroy indian cricket, I miss that Virat Kohli era where indian players were safe, imagine getting threat from cheap journalists after serving indian cricket for a long time, this can never happen in old era.#BCCIPolitics #GodiMedia
— Hemant Kumar ?? (@Hemantkumar398) February 19, 2022
“it’s not because of age but we’re looking at younger talents” ?? https://t.co/cRDBJEuPzb
— Halli Billy (@halli_billy) February 20, 2022
Coach b younger doodh lo koi
Under 19 k captain ko bana do Yash dhull ko Indian cricket team ka https://t.co/NQdTQsUjBI— Pinku Meghnani (@MeghnaniPinku) February 20, 2022
Why can’t they just tell it’s age and performance. Time to give others a chance. https://t.co/FR2JFXYiBO
— NC (@ncspeaks13) February 20, 2022
This is unfair at this moment!! https://t.co/vJkaZexK6L
— Karthik ?? (@karthy_terific) February 20, 2022
@Wriddhipops should not have been omitted in the squad. https://t.co/iJTANWP3ww
— Swadhin | স্বাধীন (@swadhin_pradhan) February 20, 2022
“I don’t know how to tell you this ” – these can’t be Dravid’s words , for sure. He is the last person afraid of being unpopular. We got to agree that Wriddhi, however good he was, isn’t the future despite what Gangu might have told him. Sanju, Pant are. https://t.co/LMby7poMmX
— Prashant Ghargi (@pghargi) February 19, 2022
Pretty salty for Saha to come out and revealing details of a presumably an informal conversation with a coach who was also his former teammate.
Sure, Saha is arguably the best keeper in India of his generation. He simply doesn’t fit into Indian teams scheme of things https://t.co/88HJN50qlB
— Nihaal Ahmed (@NihaalAhmed16) February 19, 2022
Saha has been a back-up to Rishabh Pant since the Australia tour last year, and has featured only in 2 Tests – versus New Zealand – when Pant was rested. Saha’s returns with the bat have been underwhelming – just one fifty in his last 9 Tests spanning across four years – and with the presence of KS Bharat, the selectors decided to move on from the 37-year-old.
Also Read: Chetan Sharma Made A Strong Statement About Hardik Pandya’s Return To Team India
