India coach Rahul Dravid gave an honest account of his much talked about chat with Wriddhiman Saha, telling the experienced cricketer in South Africa that the selectors and team management are planning to move past him and try a younger back-up keeper.
Dravid said he is not “hurt” that Saha spoke in the open about it and still have “deep respect” for the Bengal cricketer. He added that such has been Saha’s contribution to the team that “he deserved honesty and clarity” from him as the head coach about his future in the side.
“I’m not hurt at all. I have a deep respect for Wriddhiman Saha and his achievements and contributions to Indian cricket.
My conversation with him actually came from that place, from my respect for him. He deserved honesty and clarity. I didn’t want him to hear about it from the media,”
he was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo from his presser following the third and final T20I versus the West Indies on February 20.
This was the very first question Dravid was asked during his media interaction as his conversation with Saha was revealed by the cricketer through the multiple interviews he has had over the last few days since being unselected for the Test series against Sri Lanka.
In his interview with Sportstar, Saha narrated his conversation with Dravid after India’s Test series loss in South Africa in January.
“As we started speaking, Rahul bhai said, ‘I don’t know how to tell you this, but for a while, a few selectors and the team management are thinking of trying a new keeper’.
“I asked him whether it is because of my age or fitness, but Rahul bhai told me that it is not just because of age or performance. They were looking at younger talents, and since you are not playing in the eleven, we thought of looking at other talents…”
Soon after that, the player was in conversation with chief selector Chetan Sharma, who sealed his fate going forward.
“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,”
said the 37-year-old.
While Sharma denied telling Saha that “from now on” he “will not be considered” and stressed his panel only asked the keeper to go back to Ranji Trophy, Dravid upheld Saha’s words and spoke with honesty about his end of the “difficult” conversation.
Saha’s departure from the scene may have been set in stone during his penultimate outing for India in Tests. Playing against New Zealand in Kanpur, Saha, who had got the opportunity as Rishabh Pant rested, was forced to take a break from keeping duties because of a stiff neck.
Available at that point, KS Bharat filled in successfully behind the stumps and notably looked in control even as R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel went about their business on a slow, low surface.
Saha’s neck issue allowed the management to see Bharat’s keeping prowess and ultimately replace him for the next home series. Ten years younger, Bharat, who has been on the fringes for a long time, is now Pant’s immediate back-up and is an injury away from making his Test debut.
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But from Saha’s perspective, this does signal the end of the road for an earnest cricketer and a high-class keeper, who had to play back-up to MS Dhoni in the early part of his career and then Pant in the twilight phase. In-between, he played a critical role behind the stumps when the then Virat Kohli-led Indian Test team was still under transition and finding its feet, with its bowlers needing a keeper who made the chances count.
