Wriddhiman Saha confident of return to Indian team for the Test series against South Africa

Wriddhiman Saha is confident that he can regain his fitness in time for the Test series against South Africa which is due to begin in November, ESPNCricinfo reports. The 30-year-old said that he will target next month’s Ranji Trophy fixtures to get match fit ahead of the four-match series, but added that the choice of the wicket-keeper is the selectors’ discretion.

Naman Ojha replaced Saha for the third Test against Sri Lanka, with the Bengal player ruled out with a hamstring injury. He disappointed however with the bat as he was dismissed cheaply in his two outings. But Saha said that he is only concentrating on his own batting and wanted to leave the decision of choosing between himself and Ojha to the selectors.

"South Africa Tests are still two months away. I am confident that I will get fit much before that. Hopefully, I will be playing Ranji Trophy for Bengal next month to get match fit," he told PTI. "I don't play cricket thinking about others' performance. I got injured and Naman was assigned a duty. He did his job to the best of his abilities and India have won the match. Now who will play is up to the selectors. My job is to keep improving and I will strive in doing that."

Saha has long been considered India's best glovesman but was kept out of the national team due to the presence of MS Dhoni who had undoubtedly better abilities with the bat as well as being India’s most successful skipper. His sudden retirement from the longer format of the game during India’s tour of Australia finally gave Saha his long-awaited chance and he has impressed in his short international career so far.

He scored half-centuries in both the Tests he played against Sri Lanka including a knock of 60 in the 2nd Test at Colombo, where India won to level the series at 1-1 following the loss at Galle. Saha, however, rates his innings of 56 in the first Test as the best among the two.

"I would rate the Galle innings higher as there was both turn and bounce on that track. Also, I had not got a fifty in Tests till then. It was a challenge that I enjoyed. Also, I batted with the tail (in both Tests), which demands greater responsibility. (Dhammika) Prasad and (Rangana) Herath are class bowlers and doing well against them increases self-belief,” Saha said.

Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli had claimed in April that Saha deserve to be the first-choice wicketkeeper in the format for the next five years and Saha expressed confidence that he was able to repay the faith shown in him.

"Obviously, the twin half-centuries acted as confidence boosters. I am happy that I have played my little part in the team's 2-1 series victory,” he said. “For me, more than the volume of runs, it is important that in what situation I have scored those runs. When I look back, I feel a bit of satisfaction that I could deliver what Virat (Kohli) wanted from me."

India won the third Test at the SSC Colombo to clinch the series 2-1 with the major talking point being how most of the players chipped in with useful contributions to help India record it’s first away series victory since 2011. Saha also echoed the same thoughts while talking about his own personal experience.

“When I had low scores (3 and 1) in the warm-up game, Ajinkya [Rahane] came up and told me, 'Don't worry. You will score in Tests where it matters'. That's what has been the hallmark. Everyone is enjoying each other's success," Saha said.