Making Sense Of Wridhiman Saha's Year Of Controversies

Wridhiman Saha's 2022 has been filled with various controversies from being out of the Indian team to out of Bengal's Ranji squad.

In a generic categorization, cricketers can be put in broad terms like cool, calm, and composed players or players who have careers without many controversies but almost every time, these categories are proven wrong, case in point - Wriddhiman Saha. 

Wriddhiman Saha has been a veteran in Indian cricket. He made his first-class debut for Bengal in 2007 and has been playing cricket for them, for the national team, and IPL franchises, since then. In a career with such highs and lows, one thing remained common - Saha not being involved in any sort of controversies. 

But then came 2022 and everything changed. 

Indian cricket is in a transition phase where many youngsters have now become good enough to get into the test squad and even playing XI. Seniors like Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma, etc have to fight for their spots in the XI. This list also included Wriddhiman Saha until recently. 

With the new management led by Rahul Dravid, Saha was reportedly told by the new coach that he won't be considered in the Indian team's setup henceforth. 

"After the South Africa series, Rahul Bhai called me to the room and said, "Wriddhi, I don't know how to say this, but for some time now the selectors and the team management have been wanting to look at a new face because you are not our first-choice wicketkeeper because you haven't been playing for a while, we want to use this time to groom a younger wicketkeeper," Saha said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo on 20th February. 

Saha opted out of Ranji Trophy 2022 due to 'personal reasons'. Saha wasn't available for the Bengal's pre-season camp as well. However, he had said that "it has got nothing to do with the selection." 

"Some time ago my wife fell sick with dengue, and she hasn't recovered fully. We have two young kids too. So I have to give my family some time too. I told the Cricket Association of Bengal clearly that I was not playing for personal reasons," Saha had said. 

Just when things were becoming a little unstable due to these events, Saha was 'threateningly asked' by journalist Boria Majumdar for an interview which the 37-year-old refused. That led to another controversy which eventually resulted in BCCI making a committee and that led to the banning of Bora Majumdar for two years. 

During this time, Wriddhiman Saha showed there is a lot of cricket left in him as he rocked the opening slot for Gujarat Titans, scoring more than 300 runs while averaging close to 35 and striking at nearly 124. 

However, things once again took a new turn in the domestic circuit where Saha has reportedly left the official WhatsApp group of the Bengal cricket team. Apparently, Saha got triggered when the Cricket Association of Bengal picked him in the squad for Ranji knockouts. 

I had expressed this to Wriddhiman and requested him to reconsider his decision. However, Wriddhiman has now communicated to us that he is not willing to play the Ranji Trophy knockouts,” CAB president Avishek Dalmiya said in a statement as quoted by Indian Express on 27th May. 

Even though things haven't been official but the various statements can give us an idea about what is going on with Wriddhiman Saha's career. 

A Brief Summary: Saha is gradually replaced by Rishabh Pant in the test team in early 2021 and is now a backup keeper. The coaching staff changed at the end of 2021 and they communicated to Saha that they are looking for a new face. Saha doesn't join Bengal's Ranji squad for the season despite several attempts from the state officials. 

"They (Selector Chetan Sharma and Coach Rahul Dravid) said performance or fitness is not an issue. "We just want to look at a new face. You are with the squad, not getting to play, so we will not consider you 'from now on'." So if I play Ranji or not, if I score double-centuries or triple-centuries, "from now on" means out. That means we will not consider you from now on," Saha's statement as quoted by ESPNCricinfo on 20th February.