The Indian cricket circuit was shocked when Wriddhiman Saha revealed that head coach of India, Rahul Dravid, suggested him to think about his retirement. Among the many other revelations Saha made after being axed from India’s Test squad, the suggestion of Dravid to him also caught limelight. (More Cricket News)
Given that Rahul Dravid is among one of the most respected names in the cricket circuit, the revelation from Saha took no time to spread like a wildfire. However, before unwanted rumours could surface, Dravid himself came out to clarify his rationale behind the suggestion.
"I was just trying to convey that with RP (Rishabh Pant), having established himself as our No.1 wicketkeeper-batsman, the idea was to say that we are looking to groom a younger wicketkeeper (Kona Bharat),” Dravid said after India’s 3-0 T20I series win over West Indies on Sunday night.
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"This doesn't change my feelings or respect for Wriddhi," he added.
Notably, India axed Saha, who was with the Test team in their recent tour to South Africa, and included a young KS Bharat instead for upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka. Given that Saha is already 37 years old and has been in and out of the team since Rishabh Pant cemented his place, India are looking to invest on a young prospect like Bharat who is just 28.
On the other hand, Pant, who made his Test debut in August 2018, has scored 1735 runs from the 28 games played in the format so far. His average is 39.43 and strike rate is 67.48. In case the stats fail to reflect complete potential of the 24-year-old, his match-winning knocks are a testimony to his dominating performance. His knock at the Gabba, Brisbane against Australia in January last year is just one of the telling examples.
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Since the debut of Pant, Saha got just 8 Tests in which he scored 189 runs at an average of 23.62. Meanwhile, the improvement of Pant as a wicketkeeper further dampened Saha’s chances of a comeback in the playing XI.
"I'm actually not hurt at all. I have deep respect for Wriddhi and his achievements and his contribution to Indian cricket. My conversation came from that place. I think he deserved honesty and clarity," said Dravid.
The head coach of the Indian cricket team also said that he could have avoided the discussion but that wouldn’t have been the right thing to do, according to him.
"Easiest thing for me is to not have these conversations and not speak to players about it. That's not what I am going to do,” said Dravid.
"But at some stage, I hope they respect the fact that I was able to front up and have those conversations," he added.
