Wriddhiman Saha, India’s first choice Test wicketkeeper is still doubtful for the England Test series tour. Saha is yet to recover from his right-thumb injury. In fact, Saha had to also miss the one-off Test match against Afghanistan. Dinesh Karthik had replaced him for the historic Test against the Afghan team.
Meanwhile, Saha had conceived a thumb injury in the Indian Premier League which has kept him on the sidelines since then. The gloveman suffered a blow to his hand after he was hit by a bouncer of youngster Shivam Mavi. Thus, the Bengal batsman had to also miss the final of the IPL for the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Indian Team injury woes continue.
A source confirmed that Saha is yet to recuperate from his injury. Thus, he is going through his fitness drills. In fact, the selectors are expected to take a call on his availability soon.
“The injury is more serious than it seemed. He is still wearing a soft plaster on his thumb. He is going through his fitness drills and very little cricket. It will be a huge risk if he goes to England with even one percent doubt in his mind. The selectors will pick a day for selection in another two days,” a source told The Times of India, giving an update on Saha.
If Saha is ruled out of the five-match Test series, then Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel would be in contention to grab the wicketkeeper slot. Furthermore, India is already jolted by a spate of injuries on the England tour. Jasprit Bumrah and Washington Sundar were ruled out of the limited-overs series.
Meanwhile, Saha is India’s first choice Test wicketkeeper given his good glovework behind the stumps. However, his injury might create a chance for Karthik or Patel who could be better options as far as the batting credentials are concerned.
