Saha hits out at Dravid, Ganguly following Test snub against Sri Lanka

Wriddhiman Saha has been dropped for Tests against Sri Lanka. He has slammed Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly and has alleged BCCI for maintaining double standards.

Indian wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha was among the four men to be dropped from the side for the upcoming two-Test series against Sri Lanka at home next month. The All-India Senior Selection Committee, headed by Chetan Sharma, announced the squad on Saturday. However, following the snub, the 37-year-old keeper has been left red-faced.

Saha has hot out at Team India head coach Rahul Dravid and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly. While Chetan hinted that age was one of the factors that led to Saha’s axe, the latter was not convinced by it. He revealed that Gangulyu had assured him of his place in the team following his brave innings of 61 against New Zealand last November, where he had batted with an injured neck by relying on painkillers.

“After scoring 61 against New Zealand at Kanpur, Dadi (Ganguly) congratulated me over WhatsApp and mentioned, ‘As long as I’m here (in charge of BCCI), you would be in the team’. Such a message from the BCCI president boosted my confidence. What I’m struggling to understand is how things have changed so fast,” Saha was quoted as saying to The Indian Express following the squad announcement.

However, Saha was not surprised by his snub, confirming that he had already been informed about the same by Dravid in South Africa itself. He believed that he expected a little more run in the team. However, Dravid told him that the selectors aimed to groom a young keeper for the long run.

“Rahul sir 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 was because of my age or fitness, but Rahul sir told me it was 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 told Sportstar.

Chetan had admitted that the selectors were grooming KS Bharat as Rishabh Pant’s back-up. On the other hand, when Saha asked Chetan about his team status, he was informed that he wouldn’t be considered. Saha felt that these decisions were not just limited to Chetan, but collective ones.

“He also told me, ‘You should play the Ranji Trophy, but the decision is yours’. I asked him if my performance and age were the factors, to which he answered in the negative.” Saha also informed that he was told to consider retirement, but he is adamant that he will not end his career.