‘He’s still better than most of the youngsters’: Harbhajan (On Wriddhiman Saha)

[OMB]

Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh feels that Team India should stick with Wriddhiman Saha as their second Test keeper after Rishabh Pant and should give him more opportunities over others. Saha last appeared in the pink-ball Test against Australia at Adelaide which India lost by 8 wickets after registering their lowest-ever total in the longest format of the game.

While speaking on Star Sports, Harbhajan was of the opinion that Saha is a 'safe keeper and has very good hands’, adding that the Bengal cricketer has been with Team India for a long time now and is fitter than most of the youngsters.

“It is a difficult choice but if I have to choose, I will stick with Wriddhiman Saha. He has been with the team for a long time. He is a very safe keeper and has very good hands. Rishabh Pant has grown in stature, not only as a batsman but as a keeper as well and will keep improving as he keeps on playing,” Harbhajan said on Star Sports network.

“I feel for some time Wriddhiman Saha will have to be kept along with the team. I agree he is 35 years old but the sort of fitness he has, I feel he is still better than most of the youngsters. It is good that we have quite a few options - we have KL Rahul and the bold Ishan Kishan,” he added.

Meanwhile, Aakash Chopra pointed out that with Pant in the playing XI, India have often been able to field five bowlers. However, that’s not been the case with Saha. Replying to this, Harbhajan suggested that in such a scenario, youngster Ishan Kishan can also be trained as the second keeper.

“If you watch closely, Rishabh provides the balance to the team which allows you to play five bowlers because he is a proper batsman. But when you look towards Wriddhi, the captain is not that confident of playing five bowlers.

“If the thinking is like that, then I feel Ishan Kishan can be a very good choice because he is a strong batsman and a match-winner. He is also a similar kind of player who plays shots and keeps well also,” Harbhajan concluded.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/hes-still-better-than-most-of-the-youngsters-harbhajan-names-india-s-2nd-choice-wicketkeeper-after-rishabh-pant-101615189962994.html

 

[Slog]

Pant’s form with the bat has ensured that even if he is a significantly poorer keeper than Saha; he is undroppable. In that scenario I see no utility to keeping Saha around. Might as well blood a youngster and have him around.

 

[Varun]

Saha's career is done. He was a filler at best.

 

[Mesozoic]

No. Time to thank Saha for his services in the 2015-17 home seasons and move on to groom a new backup for pant...

 

[Slog]

Saha's career is done. He was a filler at best.

38 Test matches isn’t a bad tally considering majority of his career overlapped with Dhoni’s

 

[Last Monetarist]

Saha was a decent keeper, although unnecessarily hyped by a few Indian fans. I'd class him in the same category as Kiran More or Nayan Mongia. Probably not suited to modern cricket.

 

[rhony]

Saha should be in the team to guide Pant and improve his keeping. It's a bit rich to hire a separate WK coach. Saha as a back up keeper, WK coach and thirst quencher will solve all purposes.

 

[Mamoon]

Saha is a timid player and his best days are behind him. India does not gain anything by persisting with him as a backup option.

They overdid his stay in the playing XI because he should have never played ahead of Pant again after the latter scored tons in England and Australia in 2018-19, and now they want to persist with him as a backup even though it does nothing for the team.

He is an Indian cricketer from the 80’s and 90’s. He cuts an uninspiring, weak figure on the field, and makes the opposition feel that they have a strong chance and he simply does not have the profile that India has established under Kohli and Shastri.

Today, India is overflowing with talent and is by far the most talented cricket nation out there. It is almost impossible to believe that Saha at the age of 36 and with mediocre batting skills is still the second best WK batsman in the country.

India needs to pick an exciting, exuberant young WK batsman who can deputize for and learn from the most talented WK batsman since the emergence of Gilchrist.

 

[WengerOut]

Saha is a timid player and his best days are behind him. India does not gain anything by persisting with him as a backup option.

They overdid his stay in the playing XI because he should have never played ahead of Pant again after the latter scored tons in England and Australia in 2018-19, and now they want to persist with him as a backup even though it does nothing for the team.

He is an Indian cricketer from the 80’s and 90’s. He cuts an uninspiring, weak figure on the field, and makes the opposition feel that they have a strong chance and he simply does not have the profile that India has established under Kohli and Shastri.

Today, India is overflowing with talent and is by far the most talented cricket nation out there. It is almost impossible to believe that Saha at the age of 36 and with mediocre batting skills is still the second best WK batsman in the country.

India needs to pick an exciting, exuberant young WK batsman who can deputize for and learn from the most talented WK batsman since the emergence of Gilchrist.

Iam not his greatest fan but timid is not a way to describe him. Played a huge role in India's home win against Aussies in 2017 both with bat and gloves.

 

[BaaliSoda]

Nothing against Wriddhiman Saha (a great servant of Indian Cricket team), but we have to avoid taking the opinion of Harbhajan seriously. He clearly has a chip on his shoulder and an agenda to drive home.

Ever since the emergence of Ashwin relegated the darty with suspect action, he has been sour with the team and the management. Anyone remembers his jibe against Washington few years back or constant snide remarks against Ashwin's achievement (sometime in social media via his chuddy-buddies).

Ishan Kishan is doing consistently well (given chance could rival Rishab Pant in terms of strike rate) with his battting and his keeping has also improved vastly in the last 2 years. He seems a natural fit when Rishab is not available (don't want to burden KL Rahul with WKing).

 

[RajBan]

Saha is a timid player and his best days are behind him. India does not gain anything by persisting with him as a backup option.

They overdid his stay in the playing XI because he should have never played ahead of Pant again after the latter scored tons in England and Australia in 2018-19, and now they want to persist with him as a backup even though it does nothing for the team.

He is an Indian cricketer from the 80’s and 90’s. He cuts an uninspiring, weak figure on the field, and makes the opposition feel that they have a strong chance and he simply does not have the profile that India has established under Kohli and Shastri.

Today, India is overflowing with talent and is by far the most talented cricket nation out there. It is almost impossible to believe that Saha at the age of 36 and with mediocre batting skills is still the second best WK batsman in the country.

India needs to pick an exciting, exuberant young WK batsman who can deputize for and learn from the most talented WK batsman since the emergence of Gilchrist.

Mamoon - you are completely wrong here. Saha is a proper mango man player (even more than Dhoni) who come from a Tier 3 town and still made it to the top based on sheer grit and ability. Atleast for Dhoni after few years , he got backing from Srini lobby and media managers, Saha never had that and his best years he had to sit on the bench when he was clearly ahead of Dhoni as a wk.

But right now it's Pant's time and there should not be any second opinion that he should be the primary keeper batsman.

 

[Ramsay]

Mamoon - you are completely wrong here. Saha is a proper mango man player (even more than Dhoni) who come from a Tier 3 town and still made it to the top based on sheer grit and ability. Atleast for Dhoni after few years , he got backing from Srini lobby and media managers, Saha never had that and his best years he had to sit on the bench when he was clearly ahead of Dhoni as a wk.

But right now it's Pant's time and there should not be any second opinion that he should be the primary keeper batsman.

Lol at Saha being ahead of Dhoni as a wk.

 

[RajBan]

Lol at Saha being ahead of Dhoni as a wk.

Ignorance is lol.

 

[Slog]

Lol at Saha being ahead of Dhoni as a wk.

As a keeper Dhoni wasn’t that great tbh. He never made howlers like an Akmal but he wasn’t as clean as Saha for the couple of years I saw him play

 

[RajBan]

As a keeper Dhoni wasn’t that great tbh. He never made howlers like an Akmal but he wasn’t as clean as Saha for the couple of years I saw him play

You are most likely sharing wisdom with a fan. Any wisdom may hit a MetalHead. Dhoni was just mind-blowing within his abilities but as a keeper Saha at peak was at elite level.

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

You are most likely sharing wisdom with a fan. Any wisdom may hit a MetalHead. Dhoni was just mind-blowing within his abilities but as a keeper Saha at peak was at elite level.

Dhoni was an average test wicketkeeper, and i am saying this because i closely followed our home test series cycle from early 2010s to 2014 , he was never as good as Saha as pure wicketkeeper but obviously it doesn't matter as there's no such thing as specialist wicketkeeper in this era. Dhoni was good with the bat and that's why he was chosen over Saha

 

[jusarrived]

As a keeper Dhoni wasn’t that great tbh. He never made howlers like an Akmal but he wasn’t as clean as Saha for the couple of years I saw him play

Dhoni was notch above anyone else against spinners . Saha was better against pace .

 

[Ab Fan]

I agree with [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]. Saha has no legacy in test cricket. He averages 13 in SENA.

Overall, good for subcontinent conditions and against weaker teams but a liability against any top 5 country.

Dhoni was comfortably better with a career average of 38 and Pant is better than both.

Saha- 7/10 in SC, 3/10 outside SC
Dhoni- 8/10 in SC, 4/10 outside SC
Pant - 8/10 in SC, 7/10 outside SC

 

[BaankeJi]

Saha is a timid player and his best days are behind him. India does not gain anything by persisting with him as a backup option.

They overdid his stay in the playing XI because he should have never played ahead of Pant again after the latter scored tons in England and Australia in 2018-19, and now they want to persist with him as a backup even though it does nothing for the team.

He is an Indian cricketer from the 80’s and 90’s. He cuts an uninspiring, weak figure on the field, and makes the opposition feel that they have a strong chance and he simply does not have the profile that India has established under Kohli and Shastri.

Today, India is overflowing with talent and is by far the most talented cricket nation out there. It is almost impossible to believe that Saha at the age of 36 and with mediocre batting skills is still the second best WK batsman in the country.

India needs to pick an exciting, exuberant young WK batsman who can deputize for and learn from the most talented WK batsman since the emergence of Gilchrist.

He is not timid at all. Just that his batting is weaker than Pant.

 

[Cryin Out Loud]

Saha is still the best gloveman in India.

But there's no point keeping him as backup.

With Pant at the helm at such a young age, India has the incredible opportunity and luxury of having time to try and develop a bench strength of wicket keepers in the Gilchrist tradition.

It would be a very tough ask, but in the next 5-6 years if we could potentially have one or two explosive wk/batsmen as backup, it would only strengthen Team India immeasurably.

 

[RajBan]

He is not timid at all. Just that his batting is weaker than Pant.

Exactly. Saha actually has played some pretty gritty Test innings and helped the team recover from tight conditions. It's just that as batsman overall he has certain limitations and he does not have the age to unlearn and rejuvenate.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Saha is an incredible wicketkeeper.

Right up there with the best in history.

Sure he might have missed a few on a bad day but his keeping gives you incredible assurance.

There are keepers who are great against spin but not pace. Some great against pace but not spin.

Saha is great against everything and better than every keeper i have seen in my life.

But I guess his time is up.

Its only fair to give a younger keeper a chance as Pant's backup.

 

[Slog]

Dhoni was notch above anyone else against spinners . Saha was better against pace .

I think Saha was better against spin than dhoni

 

[jusarrived]

I think Saha was better against spin than dhoni

Saha was not even close . Dhoni not just took some spectacular ones, hardly dropped a catch of a spinner in his entire career. He was just too safe against pacers .

 

[RajBan]

Saha was not even close . Dhoni not just took some spectacular ones, hardly dropped a catch of a spinner in his entire career. He was just too safe against pacers .

Dhoni hardly have taken tough catches against spin. Saha was that good that he was able grab some tough edges and hence drop few as well which Dhoni did not even try or not able to reach out. Dhoni's improvisation was better though in times of run outs.