On Saturday, the Indian choice committee headed by Chetan Sharma introduced the India squads for the T20I and Test sequence towards Sri Lanka, leaving out Wriddhiman Saha from the squad.
The exclusion got here as no shock for the Test veteran, who stated that he was knowledgeable concerning the committee’s choice to not decide him by coach Rahul Dravid in South Africa itself. In an interview to Sportstar, Saha stated, “After the Test against New Zealand, Dada texted me, congratulating me for my innings and boosted my confidence. So, when Rahul bhai called me, I thought maybe he wanted to talk to me about his plans.”
“But 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…” Saha claimed.
Saha additional stated that Rahul requested him to contemplate retirement however Saha insisted that he nonetheless had loads of cricket left in him.
After he returned to India, Saha obtained a name from the nationwide choice committee chairman Chetan Sharma. “Chetan Sharma instructed me that they won’t think about me for the Sri Lanka sequence. I requested him whether or not it’s only for the Sri Lanka sequence, or is it additionally past that? He took a pause after which stated, to any extent further, you’ll not be thought of,” Saha claimed.
“I asked him the same question – whether it is for my performance or for my age? He said that they were looking at a younger talent. But he also advised me to play the Ranji Trophy, but the call is yours…”
Saha stated that he determined to provide the Ranji Trophy a skip to spend time along with his household, claiming that his spouse was admitted to the hospital attributable to dengue. “So, after being contained in the bubble for months, I made a decision to be with the household and spend a while with the youngsters. That grew to become an enormous speaking level,” Saha stated.
“I was surprised to see how the entire matter got leaked to the media, and my decision of not playing the Ranji Trophy became such a big issue. Back then, I thought that it is important to spend time with the family and that’s why I took the decision. I am gearing up for the IPL stint with Gujarat Titans. If the management decides to give me a chance in the playing eleven, I will try and deliver. I have not decided what I will do next season…” Saha added.
,
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
