Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) secretary Snehasish Ganguly said that Wriddhiman Saha probably made an error of judgment by publicly commenting on a private conversation between him and the selectors/BCCI. Snehasish, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly’s elder brother, also opined that Saha could have played the Ranji Trophy rather than opting out of the Bengal squad.
“This is my personal opinion, but what was communicated to him (Saha) by the chief selector/BCCI was private. He probably shouldn’t have gone public with that. Also, he could have played the Ranji Trophy. He cited personal reasons for pulling out and we have to respect that. The door is always open for him, whenever he wants to join the squad,” Snehasish told reporters on Sunday.
After Saha was dropped from the Test team for the upcoming two-match series against Sri Lanka, he told this paper that he had received a WhatsApp message from the BCCI president following his game-saving 61 not out in the first Test against New Zealand at Kanpur in November last year that said, ‘as long as I’m here (helming the BCCI), you would be in the team’.
“After scoring 61 against New Zealand at Kanpur, Dadi (Sourav Ganguly) congratulated me over WhatsApp and mentioned, ‘As long as I’m here (helming the BCCI), you would be in the team’. Such a message from the BCCI president really boosted my confidence. What I’m struggling to understand is how things have changed so fast,” the wicketkeeper-batsman had said.
About his conversation with Sharma, he had said: “What Chetan Sharma said at the press conference today was totally different to what we had conversed. He had called me and asked if I was playing the Ranji Trophy. That was the first week of February and I told him that the Ranji Trophy was still some time away. He said, ‘OK’. Then, he told me that he wanted to convey something, that the selection committee was planning to try a new face, thinking long-term. That I wasn’t playing and was in the team as a second wicketkeeper and the selection committee wanted to try a newcomer and groom him. He told me I wouldn’t be in the team for the Sri Lanka series.”
Snehasish said age shouldn’t be a factor for a cricketer as long as he is performing well.
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