Wriddhiman Saha Saga

The first question that Rahul Dravid faced at the post-match presser after India’s T20 series win was on Wridhhiman Saha. The head coach reacted with sarcasm before going into the crux of the matter.

“Dravid said, "I’m actually not hurt at all, because I have deep respect for Wridhhiman Saha and his achievements, his contribution to Indian cricket. My conversation with him actually came from that place."

Dravid also said, "I think he deserved honesty and he deserved clarity. These are conversations I constantly have with players. I don’t expect players to always like messages or to agree with everything that I have to say about them. That’s not how it works.”

Dravid agreed that it was a difficult conversation, which he needed to have with Saha to offer clarity and honesty.

In the home series against New Zealand, where Pant was rested, Saha played two Tests and after scoring a game-saving 61, braving a neck injury, in the second innings at Kanpur, he said that he received a Whatsapp message from Ganguly that had mentioned: As long as I’m here (helming the BCCI), you would be in the team’.

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.