'Time to move beyond him' - Twitter disappointed after Wriddhiman Saha falls cheaply in Kanpur Test

Saha played his first Test for India after the pink-ball encounter against Australia in Adelaide last year.

By Pratyay Tiwari

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Wriddhiman Saha
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Wriddhiman Saha. (Photo Source: Disney + Hotstar)

India wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha was dismissed cheaply against New Zealand on the second day of the Kanpur Test, as he chased a Tim Southee outswinger before nicking it to Tom Blundell behind.

Saha was named in the India XI straight after the pink-ball Test in Adelaide during the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar Trophy but could score only a solitary run off 12 balls after his long return, leaving India 288/6.

Southee, who had left the field on the first day due to a groin niggle, was at his menacing best on the second morning, running through the Indian line-up as he registered a five-wicket haul. He was rewarded early with both half-centurion Ravindra Jadeja and debut centurion Shreyas Iyer’s wicket.

Southee angled one into Jadeja and breached the bat-pad gap to rattle his stumps to send him back 50 off 112, while he had Iyer (105 off 171) caught at point immediately after drinks to lift the New Zealand spirits further up. Southee bagged his fifth when he had Axar Patel caught behind for 3.

Iyer, meanwhile, became the 16th Indian batter to notch up a century on Test debut, after he resumed 75 overnight. Iyer targeted Kyle Jamieson in particular on the second morning, who was wayward in contrast to how he delivered on the first morning.

He dealt in boundaries right from the onset, including the drive through midwicket off Jamieson which got him off the mark. He followed that with another four in the same over, before picking two successive boundaries in the 90th over bowled by the same bowler to push himself into the nineties.

Ravichandran Ashwin, on the other hand, looked solid despite the constant fall of wickets at the other end and got himself going with a couple of crisp drives through the covers. He was reprieved off the bowling of Ajaz Patel when he charged down against the spinner but failed to make any connection. Although, Blundell failed to collect the ball to give him a life at 16.

India took their lead past 300-mark on the second morning, and with the track expected to deteriorate further, having shown inconsistent bounce and some turn for the spinner already, the hosts would target swelling up the lead closer to the 400-mark.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

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