Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha has been in the centre of two different controversies over the past weekend. One pertains to his exclusion from the national test side. In an interview, Saha disclosed a confidential conservation he had with team coach Rahul Dravid in which the latter asked the batsman to consider retirement as his services to the test team will no longer be required. The second controversy pertains to a shocking revelation by Saha in which he was allegedly being harassed by a “respected journalist” for an interview. These two revelations are being debated by Indian cricket fans on public forums. Here’s all you need to know:
1. Chief selector Chetan Sharma virtually announced an 18-member squad for the upcoming tow test match home series against Sri Lanka. Amongst the missing names was that of Wriddhiman Saha. When asked the reason behind Saha’s exclusion, Chetan Sharma refused to divulge the details.
2. Reacting to the news, Saha was shocked at his exclusion. “After scoring 61 against New Zealand at Kanpur, Dadi (Ganguly) congratulated me over WhatsApp and mentioned, ‘As long as I’m here (helming the BCCI), you would be in the team’. Such a message from the BCCI president really boosted my confidence. What I’m struggling to understand is that how things have changed so fast,” Saha told the Sunday express.
3. Saha then went on to reveal a confidential conversation he had with team coach Rahul Dravid who asked him to consider retirement form the national side. “The team management had told me that I would not be considered henceforth. I could not tell this so long as I was part of the India team setup… Even coach Rahul Dravid suggested that I think about taking retirement,” PTI quoted Saha saying on Saturday.
Also read| India climb to top of T20I rankings after clean sweep of series vs West Indies
4. When asked to comment on the revelation in a post-match interview on Sunday night, team coach Rahul Dravid confirmed he had this conversation. He further said that he is not unhappy that Saha made their conversation public and said that it was crucial to clarify to the wicketkeeper-batsman about his position in the side. “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,” Dravid confidently replied.
5. “It’s about conversations I constantly have with players. I don’t expect players to always agree with everything I say about them. That’s not how it works. You can have difficult conversations with the players, but that doesnt mean you brush it under the carpet and don't have the conversations… I always believe in having those conversations before every playing XI is picked and be open to questions such as why they are not playing. It's natural for players to get upset and feel hurt,” Dravid further asserted.
6. Dravid further said that it was crucial to have a long-term vision for the team for which grooming young talent is necessary. “I was just trying to convey that with RP (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). This doesn’t change my feelings or respect for Wriddhi,” Dravid said.
Also read| Australian great Healy questions skipper Finch's place in T20 team
7. Saha also revealed on Sunday that he is being allegedly harassed by a journalist for an interview. “After all of my contributions to Indian cricket..this is what I face from a so called “Respected” journalist! This is where the journalism has gone,” Saha tweeted, adding screenshot of the messages he received from the individual.
8. BCCI officials have said that the matter is concerning especially given that Saha is currently a contracted player and the matter will be investigated, as per a Times of India (TOI) report. “… the matter cannot be put to rest until every single detail of what Saha has said in the interview and the tweet he shared is looked into,” TOI quoted the officials saying.
9. “Saha is a contracted cricketer of the BCCI. The onus is on the Board to not let its own player down. That aside, if there is any kind of a nexus at work here, one has to look into it,” the officials further told TOI. Speaking on Sha’s revelation on his conversation with Dravid, it was wrong of a BCCI official to assure Saha of his position in the side. “The Rahul Dravid-bit is understandable. He’s the national coach and may have wanted to keep his players in the loop. That’s between the coach and the players. What was the need for a BCCI official to speak with Saha and assure him of a place in the said?” TOI further quoted the BCCI officials saying.
10. Ex-players have come out in full support of Saha urging him to name the said journalist. “Extremely sad. Such sense of entitlement, neither is he respected nor a journalist, just chamchagiri. With you Wriddhi,” former Indian opener Virender Sehwag tweeted. “Shocking a player being threatened by a journo. Blatant position abuse. Something that's happening too frequently with #TeamIndia. Time for the BCCI PREZ to dive in. Find out who the person is in the interest of every cricketer. This is serious coming from ultimate team man WS,” former coach Ravi Shastri tweeted. “Wridhi you just name the person so that the cricket community knows who operates like this. Else even the good ones will be put under suspicion.. What kind of journalism is this ? /@BCCI /@Wriddhipops /@JayShah /@SGanguly99 /@ThakurArunS players should be protected,” former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh tweeted in Saha’s support.
11. BCCI will ask Saha to share the messages with them to conduct a forensic investigation. “If the sender of those messages indeed happens to be a journalist covering Indian cricket, the Board will take steps towards banning him,” the officials further told TOI.
