The game of the gloves: Wriddhiman Saha v Parthiv Patel

Indian cricket at the moment is undisputedly on a different high altogether. The fact that we’ve seen some incredible performances from our Test team are well emphasised and rightly acknowledged, but the bigger picture still remains under a shadow: is the Indian cricket fraternity talking enough about the strength of Indian cricket at the grass-root level?

Why it’s important to give equal attention to the domestic performances is answered in the form of the brilliant comeback of Yuvraj Singh, the finds that Rishabh Pant and Karun Nair are, Shahbaz Nadeem and Parvez Rasool’s entry in the Indian team. Wriddhiman Saha and Parthiv Patel enjoy the same limelight at the moment, fundamentally because of their domestic dominance.

The result of the Irani Cup makes a relevant platform to initiate a discourse from our end while we look to weigh the two options we have seen rising as potential wicketkeeper-batsmen. The Parthiv Patel led Gujarat side are the champions of the Ranji Trophy 2016-2017 and they faced the Rest of India, led by Cheteshwar Pujara.

ROI won by 5 wickets and Wriddhiman Saha was awarded the Man of the Match. Patel and Saha playing in a match against each other must have been a sight! What both their future in the Test team’s assignment against Australia will be is uncertain until the selectors themselves reveal it but a comparison of the performances along with your views will make a strong case for knowing what to expect.

Also read- Virender Sehwag trolls Pujara with a hilarious birthday wish

Parthiv has had a tremendous International comeback against England, for his consistency at the domestic level and partly, due to a thigh strain, Saha got before the 3rd Test against England. Saha was replaced by Patel as he made his way to play an international game after four years. His scores of 42, 67*, 15, and 71 in 4 innings would make one think that it’s commendable for someone who is facing a mighty bowling attack after such a long time.

Moreover, his attacking form and quick-fifties brought immense character to the team. Plus, doing that when you are replacing a batsman, not in the best of forms worked for him too. PP averages 65 in Tests while Saha reels at 31.05. A compact way to compare their contribution to the Test team would be Saha’s four 50s in 17 matches and Parthiv’s two 50+ scores in just 3 matches. If that wasn’t enough, read on about the gala time he had at the Ranji Trophy after that.

The baby-faced Gujarat boy created history as he led his side to a 5-wicket victory against defending champions Mumbai. Mumbai’s dominance at the Ranji level is known to even those who do not follow domestic cricket much, and their 41-time winning record in Ranji is the affirmation of the same.

Parthiv Patel’s knock at the Holkar Stadium in Indore was far from his innocent-looking appearance, he smashed the ball all around the ground while he scored 90 in the first innings and a match-winning 143 in the next. His improvised glovework should count too. That easily makes Parthiv the first choice, right? No, not yet.

Saha is by far the most technically sound specialist wicketkeeper across all formats. (And no, MS Dhoni’s my favourite too, but here I’m talking about orthodox glove work.) That naturally makes Saha the go-to man behind the stumps in Tests. A couple of days ago the Bengal lad scored his maiden first-class double ton, and one of the best knocks in the Irani Trophy history, an unbeaten 203* off 272 balls.

His Man of the Match worthy performance of two unbeaten fifties on a tricky Kolkata pitch, in his hometown, against New Zealand is his freshest performance that does justice to the calibre he has as a Test player. Ironically, the man of few words does leave me with very few words about his batting prowess despite the hundred in the Caribbean.

Sourav Ganguly in a statement after Bengal won the Cooch Behar trophy just 2 days before Saha completed his double ton went on to say, “This is domestic cricket; Wriddhi (Saha) is successful at Test level so he is an automatic choice. Parthiv (Patel) will have to wait.”

MSK Prasad, the chief selector also had his say after the match said, “Parthiv’s glovework has definitely improved. But Saha has got better hands and that’s where he scores little more points than Parthiv. With today’s batting, Saha showed why he is the number one keeper-batsman in the country. When he came out to bat yesterday the team was struggling at 63-4, and to take the game away from Gujarat, is phenomenal. So it’s a healthy competition between the two.”

These two statements speak volumes about how most people had their choices ready among Patel and Saha. What do you think? Vote and make your opinion count.

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