Wriddhiman Saha still the first choice India wicketkeeper: Sourav Ganguly

A brilliant unbeaten double ton from wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha saw Rest of India win the Irani Trophy recently. Saha’s heroics saw Rest of India clinch their 15th Irani Trophy title as they beat Ranji Trophy champions Gujarat in Mumbai on Tuesday. His knock has only reinstated his position as the first choice wicket keeper for the Indian team in Test cricket.

The only other wicketkeeper in the race at the moment, Parthiv Patel, was also a part of the Irani Trophy fixture. Parthiv led the Gujarat team to their maiden Ranji Trophy title last week but failed to keep the winning momentum in the Irani Trophy against ROI. Soon after the match, former Indian cricket Sourav Ganguly and team India head selector MSK Prasad have voiced their opinions over the healthy competition between Saha and Patel.

Both Prasad and Ganguly reckon that Parthiv has to wait and Wriddhiman Saha still goes down as the first choice for the national side. Sourav Ganguly cited that Parthiv is undoubtedly a successful and veteran domestic campaigner but has to wait when it comes to Test cricket. In the Irani Trophy match, Patel could score just 11 and 32 across the two innings as his side suffered a six-wicket defeat.

“Parthiv is successful at the domestic level. At the Test level Wriddhiman is an automatic choice. Parthiv will have to wait,” quoted Sourav Ganguly.

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Wriddhiman Saha, on the other hand, struck a match winning 203 off 272 balls after having scored a duck in the first innings. The chairman of selectors MSK Prasad cited that the policy of the management has been that any player coming out from an injury must prove their fitness in domestic cricket before walking into the national side. Hence, Wriddhiman Saha had to serve his case in this particular match and he did it with ease.

“We had made it clear that someone who is coming back from injury, had to play in a domestic game and this was the best opportunity. Right now Saha and Parthiv are the best No. 1 and 2 that we have. It was only to test fitness that we had Saha play here,” Prasad quoted.