Wriddhiman Saha wants to be nothing short of the best, rather than think too much about how well he has contributed to Team India's success at the ongoing Sri Lanka tour
India's Wriddhiman Saha keeps wickets in the Adelaide Test against Australia on January 27, 2012. PIC/GETTY IMAGES
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From Shaktigarh in Siliguri to Kolkata was in itself a major step for Wriddhiman Saha. Imagine then just how far he had come when he made his Test debut, in Nagpur, against South Africa, in 2010, as a specialist batsman behind Mahendra Singh Dhoni, when Rohit Sharma was injured minutes before the toss. And then came the giant leap, playing as a keeper in Adelaide, in 2012, when Dhoni was suspended for slow over rates.
Dream run
From then, Saha had to wait two more years for his next game, again in Adelaide, when Dhoni was injured. Far and away the best gloveman in India, Saha had no real chance of replacing Dhoni the batsman and captain, and it was not until Dhoni's shock retirement from the longest form of the game, after the Melbourne Test of the 2014 series, that Saha finally became a regular in the team.
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It is often said that life begins at 40, but fortunately for Saha, his cricketing journey began in earnest a decade earlier than that, in itself late for a sportsman.
Since then Saha has gone from strength to strength, and his work in the second Test in Colombo both in front of and behind the stumps, made him a strong candidate for the man of the match award.
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No notice, forget rewards
But wicketkeepers rarely get noticed, forget about rewarded, for their toil. The only time they are remembered is when a catch is dropped or a stumping missed.
Saha was at his best on a tricky surface and he explained how naturally his technique came to him."It is a basic," said Saha talking about the importance of getting up at the right time.
"I have been learning from childhood that you have to get up with the bounce of the ball, but on this track there was more bounce so I got up a fraction earlier. If you have to adjust to the bounce you have to get up a little early and it went well."
What's more, Saha thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of keeping to Ravindra Jadeja, who bowled at pace and got the ball to jump alarmingly on an unusual kind of surface.
Ravi Shastri called Saha the best Indian 'keeper he has seen, and Virat Kohli called the Bengal stumper the best in the format at the moment, leaving Saha chuffed. "If the captain is saying this then it is a big morale boost," Saha said.
"What I have done is for the team and I haven't thought about it actually that I want to be the best in the world. I am trying to deliver whatever I have learnt since childhood. It depends on the pitch and how I have to make adjustments. I keep talking with the fielding coach R Sridhar as well as to how to apply myself."
Saha had to wait an eternity to be given the security of a regular spot in the team, doing a job few cricketers like to take up. And since then, he has added so much to a group that is ever looking to scale new heights.
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