Deep Dasgupta Backs Wriddhiman Saha To Play Against South Africa In The Test Series

Veteran wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha, who made a return to the Test side for the West Indies series had to sit out. Rishabh Pant has made strong claims with centuries in England and Australia, but former cricketer Deep Dasgupta feels Saha should get a nod ahead of Pant against South Africa.

The Bengal wicket-keeper coincidentally last played his Test against South Africa in 2018. He suffered an injury which aggravated more while playing in the Indian Premier League in the Sunrisers Hyderabad. As a result, he was out of action for the whole year including tours of England and Australia.

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It was then Rishabh Pant made strong claims with two centuries to cement his place ahead of Wriddhiman Saha. But the young wicket-keeper had a poor outing against West Indies which raised claims of bringing Saha back in the mix.

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Former India keeper Deep Dasgupta, who has seen Saha grow, hailed him as the best wicket-keeper in the world. The 33-year-old Saha has been in good form with the bat scoring significant runs for the India A consistently.

“Post his recovery from injury, Wriddhi has delivered and done whatever one has asked of him. There is no shadow of doubt that he is the best wicketkeeper in the world at present. The only question was whether Wriddhi was a good enough batsman, especially when the team is looking to play five bowlers,” Dasgupta said to The Telegraph.

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Furthermore, Deep Dasgupta backed Wriddhiman Saha to play the first Test against South Africa starting from October 2. Despite agreeing that, Rishabh Pant is a better batsman than Saha, but Dasgupta backed the cricketer from his native state solely for his wicket-keeping skills.

“Yes, one may ask if Wriddhi is a better batsman than Rishabh… Well, maybe not. Then the question arises that in this format, do you prefer a better keeper or a better batsman? But going by what I saw of Rishabh in the West Indies as far as his keeping is concerned and what’s expected at home in the coming Tests, I would go with Wriddhi,” he concluded.

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