Saha’s glovework is much superior to that of Pant

When Wriddhiman Saha dived to his left to catch Marnus Labuschagne off the bowling of Navdeep Saini, the radio commentator shrieked “it was a sensational catch.” The wicket keeper had anticipated the shot (a flick) and had made enough ground to fly and get (not one) but both his gloves under the ball, which otherwise would have raced towards the fine-leg boundary. Instead of the red cherry, the young Australian batsman had to trudge towards the ropes on his way to the dressing room after scoring a well complied 73, his second fifty of the match.

An internet search will reveal Saha’s nicknames as ‘Flying Saha’ and ‘Superman’ both of which justify the wicket keepers act, the only thing missing being a furling red cape. Watching that brilliant catch, took me back to the pictures coming in from Australia in the 70s showing the legendary Rodney (Rod) Marsh levitating mid-air while pouching catches off Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson.

Marsh had made his debut in the 1970-71 Ashes series replacing Brian Taber (thanks to his better batting capabilities) and was dubbed “Iron Gloves” thanks to the number of catches he had dropped.

Saha, who has 38 matches under his belt since he made his Test debut a decade ago, was dropped after India’s debacle in the first Test at Adelaide. He came in to keep wickets in the second innings of the ongoing Sydney Test (as a keeping substitute) due to an injury suffered by Rishab Pant while batting in India’s first innings. Saha’s axing for the second (Melbourne) Test match had created a controversy. The reason being his failure with the bat (not so much his gloves) which made him a soft target for those baying for blood.

Pant’s inclusion in the second and third Test matches once again brought up the debate of whether the team needs a wicket-keeper batsman or the other way around. His dropped catches in the first innings of the Sydney Test flared up the argument further with purists going for a specialist wicket-keeper who can bat rather than one whose skills with the bat are better. The preference of Pant over Saha in many Tests over the last few years is because he is perceived as a better batsman. This needs to be looked at a bit more closely.

A dispassionate analysis between their skills will throw a bit of light on who is the better bet for the team in that position. Pant’s batting average of 38.31 is almost 10 runs over that of Saha who averages 29.09. Saha has three hundreds compared to Pant’s two, which came against England and Australia at the Oval and Melbourne, in trying circumstances. The senior player scored against the West Indies (at Gros Islet), Bangladesh and Australia (at home). Pant’s ability to pump up the strike rate and take the fight to the opponents makes him a better choice if batting needs to be considered the bigger yardstick for the job.

When it comes to guarding the area behind the stumps, it is another matter altogether. His coach at Delhi Capitals, Ricky Ponting believes that Pant has got some work to do with his wicket-keeping and that he has dropped more catches than any other keeper in the world ever since his Test debut. It is a fact that Saha is much above Pant as a custodian especially when it comes to standing up to the stumps while the spinners are operating. Saha’s anticipation, rising up with the ball, soft hands and overall technique make his glovework much superior to that of Pant.

Pant is a destructive batsman who has the potential to add strength to the (mostly) brittle Indian batting order in foreign conditions. The downside, though, is his lack of consistency which is a result of his impetuousness and eagerness to up the ante. Saha, on the other hand is a safe ’keeper-batsman cast in the mould of old timers like Alan Knott and Syed Kirmani, brilliant behind the stumps and more than a handful with the bat.

So should it be Saha or Pant? Purists like me will always pump for a specialist ’keeper who can bat rather than one who is a destructive batsman but muffs up simple, regulation catches with more consistency than scoring runs. Pant would do well to have a chat with Rod Marsh whose iron gloves turned to silken ones as his career progressed, finishing as one of the best in the business. Irrespective of what happens on the last day of the Sydney Test, the Indians should look at Saha for the last Test at Brisbane simply because of the adage that still stands – ‘catches win matches.’