Bit by bit, Saha getting there

He’s still finding his feet in Test cricket, but when he becomes confident of his batting, he will be the perfect No 6 or 7

VIRAT KOHLI, India Test skipper

NAGPUR: Wriddhiman Saha is no MS Dhoni by any stretch of imagination. While Indian cricket is still coming to terms with Dhoni calling time on his Test career, the selectors were probably the first to feel the impact since a succession plan wasn’t in place.

For all that Saha had to offer, the selectors employed a rule of elimination as the other options struck themselves out. Dinesh Karthik was blowing hot and cold, Parthiv Patel was still under scrutiny for his keeping despite being in cracking form with the bat, Naman Ojha balanced his weaker keeping skills with his batting but the weakness kept showing up.

After a forgettable debut against South Africa five years ago in Nagpur, Saha appeared to have sailed into the India team. Rohit Sharma had injured himself while playing the rocket ball on the morning of the match in which he was expected to make his Test debut following VVS Laxman’s injury. India went in with two wicketkeepers --- Dhoni kept wicket and Saha played as a batsman.

It was an inglorious five-minute stay at the crease with Dale Steyn on the rampage, but Saha evoked sympathy from all those who had witnessed Steyn’s fury that day. Despite the jibes, the knock of 36 off 100 deliveries in the second innings showed he did not lack guts.

Since then, he stayed in Dhoni’s shadow, re-emerging when the former could not play the Adelaide Test in 2012 due to suspension.

Saha proved his mettle with another gutsy knock but had to wait for another two years. He got to play the first Test in Adelaide when Dhoni failed to recover from a hand injury.

Mark Boucher, Kumar Sangakkara, Brad Haddin, Brendon McCullum and Dhoni took the role of wicketkeeperbatsman to another level. In that sense, Saha has a long way to go.

“He’s still finding his feet in Test cricket, but when he becomes confident of his batting, he will be the perfect No 6 or 7,” said Virat Kohli.

Without emulating anyone, Saha is carving out his identity. In Nagpur, he will get another chance to evaluate where he stands.