Aakash Chopra Recalls The Incident When Rahul Dravid Dropped Him From India's Test Team

Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra justified Indian head coach Rahul Dravid’s decision of informing senior wicketkeeper-batter Wrriddhiman Saha regarding his future with the Indian team. On Saturday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced squads for the Test and T20I series against Sri Lanka.

Saha along with senior batters Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara was excluded from the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka at home.

Wriddhiman Saha doesn’t want to retire despite getting dropped from the Sri Lanka Test squad

Since Rishabh Pant made his Test debut for India in 2018 in England, Saha has just played nine Tests for the Indian team as he was considered a second-choice gloveman in red-ball cricket.

After the squad was announced, Saha revealed that he was already informed by the Indian head coach that the team management is looking to groom a youngster in his place and suggested the player of considering retirement.

Rahul Dravid was absolutely honest with Wriddhiman Saha: Aakash Chopra

Chopra, who has played 10 Test matches for India in the period 2003-04, said Dravid was being honest with the Bengal cricketer. The former Indian batter recalled his own instance where Dravid had informed him about dropping him from the team during their playing days.

“It was twisted and presented that Rahul Dravid told Wriddhiman Saha to retire and the latter said that he is not going to, it is his wish when he should retire. Firstly, that is not the case. The truth is that Rahul Dravid was absolutely honest and honesty is at the top,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel. 

“To be very fair, the day I was dropped from the team, Rahul Dravid was the captain. He called both me and Parthiv separately and said that we are in the scheme of things, that we are not picked for the next match but this is not the end of the road. He did not have to do that, he was the stand-in captain, Dadi (Sourav Ganguly) wasn’t available but he still picked up the phone and called,” he added. 

Saha has played 40 Tests for India and has amassed 1353 runs at an average of 29.41 since his debut against South Africa in 2010. He has conjured 104 dismissals behind the stumps– 92 catches and 12 stumpings.

Also Read: Jay Shah Will Certainly Speak To Wriddhiman Saha Over His Tweet: Arun Dhumal