‘Superman’ Saha silences doubters
MUMBAI: Wriddhiman Saha’s return to the Indian Test side a f t e r a l o ng i nj ur y f o r c e d absence raised more than a few eyebrows but the wicketkeeper has silenced the doubters with his superlative glovework in the ongoing home series against South Africa.
A wicketkeeper rarely earns kudos purely for his glovework but Saha enjoyed t hat rare acclaim during the second Test against South Africa at Pune.
While India captain Virat Kohli received the Player-ofthe-match award for his career best knock of 2 5 4 , and f ast bowler Umesh Yadav and offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked up six wickets apiece, Saha did not even get a chance to bat.
IMPACT HAILED
He had only five dismissals to his name during the Test but his impact was hailed by his teammates and drew instant praise from Twitter users, who dubbed him “Superman Saha”.
“It’s a no-brainer to say that Saha is one of the best going around, and I’ve hardly seen him miss anything,” Ashwin said after the third day’s play on Saturday.
Saha cemented his place in the longest format of the game in early 2015 after serving as the incumbent to India captain and wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
However, India’s first choice glovesman suffered a hamstring injury during a Cape Town Test in January last year and subsequently found himself out of the side for 18 months after going through shoulder and finger problems.
He was included in India’s Test squad for their two-match s eri es against West I ndies recently but struggled to find a way to displace young stumperbatsman Rishabh Pant.
After stepping in to fill the gap left by Saha, the 22-year-old Pant scored centuries in England and Australia, prompting calls for India to invest in him given his age and better returns with the bat.
EXPERIENCE
But Saha’s experience and superior glovework while keeping on spin-friendly wickets at home finally worked in his favour as he got the nod ahead of Pant for the three Test matches against the visiting Proteas.
He lived up to captain Virat Kohli’s billing of “best in the world” with the dismissals of Theunis de Bruyn and South Africa skipper Faf Du Plessis.
He also took a smart catch down the leg side to send back Vernon Philander, l eaving Yadav as the obliged bowler.
“I need to give him a treat because I think those two wickets are Wriddhi bhai’s (brother) only,” Yadav told the broadcaster at the end of the match on Sunday.
“When you put the ball outside leg stump you think it will be a boundary, but if there is a little bit of a chance to convert a catch, we know he will take it.”