With soft hands, Wriddhiman Saha fills big boots

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And those ‘hard hands’ were very much in action as the 30-year-old walked into bat on Thursday. You couldn’t blame him though. You would be nervous if you were Saha. It’s natural. It’s human. For five years since his dramatic debut as a ‘specialist’ batsman against a raging Dale Steyn at Nagpur, the unassuming, reserved Bengal wicket-keeper has been biding his time and waiting in the wings for the day Dhoni hangs up his gloves. Throughout, he’s been tagged as a safer wicket-keeper, a more stable batsman, a more stable presence. So basically, despite doing little more than warm the bench, there’s been a reputation building around Saha, for no fault of his.

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Then India decide to go in with their five-bowler strategy, making sure that Saha doesn’t only need to prove himself as Dhoni’s replacement behind the stumps, but also in front of it. So he had to be wicketkeeper and wicketkeeper-batsman rolled into one.

No wonder Saha was feeling the world’s weight on his shoulders, and as a result feeling for the ball. Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli had set the game up for India. But the lead was still not in three-figures. India were still not completely on top. Saha had to step up. Early in his innings, he was offered a full-toss by Tharindu Kaushal in the middle of a potentially match-turning spell. He pushed at it, gingerly. But it was timed well. It sped past short-cover. It sped to the boundary. Saha was away. Those hands were getting softer. Saha was getting more relaxed. Saha was beginning to feel like he belonged.

An old-school wicketkeeper

Saha is your old-school wicketkeeper. Solid, unassuming, and gritty. Someone you don’t expect to turn a match on its head with a breath-taking double-century like Dhoni did against the Aussies in 2013. Dhoni was an exception. Dhoni was a freak.

Saha is instead someone who will bat you out of trouble or ‘when the chips are down’, like batting coach Sanjay Bangar had said after the practice game in Colombo. More Nayan Mongia than Dhoni. More Nayan Mongia than even Kiran More and Syed Kirmani, the more unorthodox kind. Rarely will you hear Saha shout out anything more than ‘Lovelyyy..” from behind the stumps.

Wickets kept tumbling at the other end as Sri Lanka took the second new-ball. By then Saha had driven the ball through the covers thrice already. Suddenly he wasn’t jabbing at the ball. He was rather caressing it. And he was also leaving it quite competently. Nuwan Pradeep had knocked out Dhawan and R Ashwin. He was looking to knock Saha’s head off with a bouncer barrage. But Saha stood his ground.

He bid his time in the 30s. Ishant proved to be a great ally at the other end. Then came a slog-sweep off Kaushal. Full ball on his legs, hit cross-batted over mid-wicket. Two balls later Pradeep bounced him again. Saha was ready. He pulled it rather passionately to the square-leg fence. The first half-century in Test cricket had been brought up. He didn’t react much. But the dressing-room was on its feet, skipper Kohli flashing a wide smile — the widest since he had reached his own milestone earlier in the day. Next over, Saha jumped out of his crease to Pradeep and lofted him over the long-off fence for the first and only six of the Indian innings. This was the Saha the world had seen scoring a century in the IPL final last year. This was the other avatar that might hopefully for India’s sake make its presence felt in years to come. But on Thursday, India wanted him to be the steadier. He did that. By the time he was out — given out controversially while attempting a hook — Saha had done his job. He had made 60 in 120 balls, and ensured India had got a sizable lead.

As he walked off, Saha hadn’t quite stepped into Dhoni’s shoes, but he had certainly stepped into his own.