The countdown to the five-Test series between India and England is just about beginning and Wriddhiman Saha, the just retired Indian wicketkeeper, wants a 360 degrees effort from the squad to buck their recent embarrassment in red ball cricket. The first of the Test matches begins at The Leeds on June 20.
Saha, who had underlined his credentials as one of the best in the business till Rishabh Pant took over, feels that the team should not be over dependant on the Big Two of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma against Ben Stokes & Co.
They are still the vital cogs in this format but then, everyone has to put their hands up. Remember when we last won back-to-back Test series in Australia, almost everyone contributed with the bat at some stages of the game.
A great amount of discipline is required from the batting unit as the rains can make life difficult irrespective of whether you are playing in early or late summer.
"This is where our batters, most of whom are strokemakers, have to show a different kind of intent and not try to just hit out of trouble,’’ remarked Saha, whose last tour of England was as the reserve wicketkeeper for the 2021 World Test Championship final against New Zealand at Hampshire.
India’s batting line-up in Tests generally selects itself though there could be the odd question mark over the number five and six spots – with an in-form Shreyas Iyer and Karun Nair pushing the versatile KL Rahul.
Yes, Shreyas is in terrific form but if you ask me, he is better suited in the white ball game. He is one who likes to play his shots but mind you, there is a difference between domestic and international bowlers in red ball…my choice will be Rahul be it at the top or middle order.
The pace bowling department, meanwhile, will have more depth and experience with Mohammed Shami joining the ranks again with the lynchpin Jasprit Bumrah.
Let’s face it, we had been unleashing a package of Bumah, Shami, Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the overseas conditions. However, in the last two Test series which we lost against New Zealand at home and in Australia, the pressure was too much on Bumrah as there was a lack of support from the other side. There is certainly some difference in quality between Shami and Mohammed Siraj. However, one is not sure whether Bumrah and Shami could be playing in all five Tests – as the team management will have to be careful after what happened with Bumrah in Sydney.
There is still more than one and-a-half months to go for the Tests to begin, but Rishabh Pant’s woeful form with the bat in the ongoing IPL is raising questions if Rahul could be asked to multi-task again. Saha, a veteran of 40 Tests, vehemently opposes such an idea for the Tests though.
See, batters leave less balls in shorter formats. In T20Is, only 15-20 balls may come to the keeper while the percentage is slightly more in ODIs. However in Tests, more balls will come to him and a part-time keeper may not be at his highest degree of alertness at the 80th over or so when a crucial catch may come to you. Hence, I would always prefer a specialist keeper whoever he might be.
Much as Saha had been somewhat typecast as the red ball keeper, he had proved his worth in IPL as well – he had been a part of five franchises and not missed a single edition of the 17 editions till his retirement.
Even in the twilight of his career, Saha had worked tirelessly to develop a power game needed for a T20 opener in powerplays — contributing substantially behind his last team Gujarat Titans’ success as they were champions in 2022 and finalists in 2023.
Saha, who totalled 317 and 371 runs in those two seasons, is also credited with hitting the first-ever century in an IPL final — a blazing 115 off 55 balls for Punjab Kings albeit in a losing cause against KKR. The bowlers in the rival line-up were Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav and the spin trio of Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan and Piyush Chawla.
While he admits to not having keenly watched the IPL on TV this season, Saha is happy with the brand of cricket Titans has dished out so far.
Asked if they can be title-contenders, Saha said: “It’s difficult to predict but the team seems to be in a similar mindspace to that of the first two years, when the lower order of the batting was not exposed much due to a consistency of the top order. Nobody was expecting much from us ahead of our debut season in 2022 and the team was built largely from players who were not retained, and this allowed us to express ourselves. That spirit seems to have come back again.