Was asked to become a wicketkeeper because I was agile enough: Wriddhiman Saha

Wriddhiman Saha keeps wickets for India during the 2014-15 tour of Australia

On eve of beginning a new innings as India’s first-choice wicketkeeper, Wriddhiman Saha held forth to Indian Express on how he had changed from being a medium pace bowler to a wicket keeper, how he has dealt with the long wait of being under the shadow of MS Dhoni and the Bengali eatery he runs in Kolkata.

The 30-year-old Siliguri lad started out as a medium pace bowler and found his calling as a wicket keeper only after the regular choice keeper did not turn up one day at the Shaktigarh Cricket Coaching Centre in his hometown.

“Don’t know why they chose me. Maybe they thought I was agile enough,” he says.

It has been a long wait for Saha to be recognised as India’s premier wicketkeeper, a wait frequently punctuated by hurdles and dead ends. The patience and fortitude shown by him in this period is exemplary – his career a stark departure from the trend in the current age of instant stardom and sometimes equally instant obscurity.

His chance in the Ranji Trophy came only after Bengal’s established keeper Deep Dasgupta left for the now-defunct Indian Cricket League in 2007. Saha was 23 then. On his first-class debut against Hyderabad, after years of waiting, he hit a sparkling unbeaten 111 and effected five dismissals behind the stumps. His skills behind the wickets drew such high praises that when Dasgupta returned to the fold of Indian domestic cricket he had to make his way into the Bengal and East Zone teams as a specialist batsman.

Eight long years later, he has finally being promoted to a similar role of trust behind India’s stumps. The long wait to recognition has taught Saha not to pick and choose. Even after a decade of club cricket, Saha prepares intensely for every local game. He says, “I don’t think about international cricket when I’m playing a club game. I’m fully focused on the job at hand. Why shouldn’t I? This is where it all began.”

Saha was always quietly confident he would outlive Dhoni: Banerjee

Tales of Wriddhiman Saha’s mental strength abound in India’s domestic cricket circuit.

“He never got frustrated and kept himself on course. He has had supreme belief in his ability and excellent fitness. He was quietly confident he would eventually outlive Dhoni.” says Sambaran Banerjee, the former Ranji Trophy-winning captain from Bengal.

“The best thing about him was that he never let his performance dip. We all knew Saha was India’s best in terms of keeping, about two levels better than Dhoni,” says Raja Venkat, who was a national selector when Saha made his Test debut against South Africa in 2010.

Saha’s coach Jayanta Bhowmick, who played a big part in Saha pursuing cricket as a profession, recounts a story from his early days which shows how the slight boy behind the stumps always had a head above his shoulders far mature than everybody around him.

“He had appeared for the Bengal U-19 trials and impressed the selectors. His selection became a formality. But Saha was down with a viral fever and had also injured his ankle ahead of the team selection. I called him to console but his response stunned me: ‘Don’t worry sir; I don’t think this is a lost opportunity. There’s always a second chance and I would be ready’. I realised I was dealing with someone who was matured beyond his age,”

Saha’s club coach Palash Nandy narrates a couple of incidents. “In 2011, he was at Chennai Super Kings and they won the IPL. We had a league fixture against East Bengal the day after the IPL final. Our secretary contacted Saha, knowing full well that it would be almost impossible for him to turn up. He took the first flight home and reached the ground directly from the airport.

“More recently, after returning from Australia, I had told him to take a break. But he arrived at the ground at 9am and happily performed the 12th-man’s duties. Very early into his career, when he was playing for the Shyambazar club, I realised he was special. It was about his attitude, the way he approached his task and sought perfection.”

Have had to wait for opportunities, must contribute now: Saha

Saha insists that he is a very private person by nature, that he keeps his phone on silent mode when at home, and that is the kind of person who needs to be approached to have a friendship struck up.

He met his wife on the social networking site Orkut and married in 2011 after a four-year courtship. Saha kept the marriage pretty low key. Less than 200 people were invited. Just family members and few close friends. “I am like that, I like to keep things private. I don’t express myself. If you want to know me, you have to make an approach.”

Calling his wife a ‘home minister’, he talks about the eatery his family and friends run in Kolkata. “She, along with three of my friends, runs the show. The restaurant serves delicacies from east Bengal. I’m a foodie and like Gujarati food items. My food joint, however, serves Bengali dishes. Come and taste our smoked hilsa. We’ve Mughlai on the menu as well”.

Saha’s father Prashanta played football and cricket in Siliguri leagues but didn’t have the financial capacity to pursue a sporting career. A job in West Bengal State Electricity Board was the only source of income to support his wife and their two sons. “My parents always backed me to the hilt. When I decided to give up my studies my father supported me. He’s my inspiration and role model,” Saha says.

The son of the failed sportsman from Siliguri has reached levels beyond the scope of imagination of his father, to be seen in India’s face-off against Bangladesh in the Test match starting on 10 June.

Virat Kohli, India’s Test captain, has been vocal about his admiration for Saha and has said that he would like to see Saha keep for India for the next five years. However long he does stay as India wicketkeeper, it will have been a hard-earned stay.

Saha says, “I had to wait for my opportunities. Now that I’m there, I must contribute.” The moment of reckoning has come.

Sadda sher @Wriddhipops enjoying his time with wife Romi and daughter Mia #KXIParivaar pic.twitter.com/6XkemYVCKh

— Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) June 2, 2015