IND vs SL Series – Wriddhiman Saha very UPSET with selection SNUB: India wicket-keeper has hit out at BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and head coach Rahul Dravid after Test snub. He said that he was asked to retire despite him scoring 61 with an injured neck against New Zealand in November. Follow India vs Sri Lanka LIVE updates on InsideSport.IN
IND vs SL Series: Wriddhiman Saha very UPSET with selection SNUB, slams Ganguly and Dravid
“I have played with a neck injury in New Zealand and we were almost close to winning the game. Dadi (Dada/Sourav) had assured me, ‘as long as I’m here, you don’t need to worry’. It was an obvious mental boost for me. Ultimately in South Africa, it was the complete opposite. I was shocked. I fail to understand what happened within one test series. Did my age grow older or something else? Dadi said something else and what happened was completely different. Therefore, I was naturally shocked,” Wriddhiman Saha told the media on Saturday.
“As the team is out, I can now reveal that I was in fact told about the selection. Even Rahul Dravid told me that there were talks of me being dropped. Indirectly, I was told to take some decisions but I believed it was a personal call. The decision was obviously around retirement,” he added.
After he returned to India, Saha receieved a call from the national selection committee chairman Chetan Sharma.
“Chetan Sharma told me that they will not consider me for the Sri Lanka series. I asked him whether it is just for the Sri Lanka series, or is it also beyond that? He took a pause and then said, from now on, you will not be considered,” Saha claimed.
“I asked him the same question – whether it is for my performance or for my age? He said that they were looking at a younger talent. But he also advised me to play the Ranji Trophy, but the call is yours…”
It’s clear – At 37, Wriddhiman Saha is no longer in the future scheme of things for the Indian Cricket team.
“We don’t give much importance to age but at one point, the selectors start to think when you get some youngsters outside and want to give them a chance,” Selector Chetan Sharma said in a virtual press conference.
- Wriddhiman Saha had last scored a lone fifty against New Zealand in home Tests during 4 innings as Pant was rested.
- Entire South Africa series he had to warm the bench as Pant was in the XI.
- He has played 40 Tests and scored 1353 runs with three centuries and an average of almost 30. He, however, has 104 dismissals behind stumps, 92 catches and 12 stumpings.
IND vs SL Series: Wriddhiman Saha very UPSET with selection SNUB, slams Ganguly and Dravid
India squad SL Series: Team India move on from Rahane, Pujara, Ishant & Saha
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