'Pant Should Be Our First-Choice Wicket-Keeper': Wriddhiman Saha

Dinesh Karthik, Wriddhiman Saha and Rishabh Pant were the front runners in this race. Saha was seen as a regular in the Indian Test team until the series down-under. Read below to know the reason why Saha gave such a statement about Rishabh Pant.

Indian wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha has reiterated that Rishabh Pant should be the first choice wicket-keeper in the Indian team for the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) Final. There has been a strong tussle for the place of wicket-keeper in the Indian team since MS Dhoni called it off in international cricket.

Dinesh Karthik, Wriddhiman Saha and Rishabh Pant were the front runners in this race. Saha was seen as a regular in the Indian Test team until the series down-under. Rishabh Pant had a great series and played an important role in making India win that series 2-1. Pant's good form continued in the series against England as well. With the statement, Saha has put full-stop to any discussions or debates about the wicket-keeper in Indian team. 

“Rishabh Pant played the last few matches of the World Test Championship, he’s done well and he should be our first-choice keeper in England. I would just wait, and if any opportunity arises, I will give my best. I will keep practising for that one chance,” Saha told Sportskeeda. 

Recently, BCCI also included KS Bharat as a cover wicket-keeper for Saha who was contracted with COVID 19 when he was playing for Sunrisers in IPL. “I didn’t have COVID-19 during the last series but KS Bharat was still with the team. So what do you say then? Now that I contracted the infection, people are labelling him as my ‘cover’. But I feel they have picked a third keeper bearing in mind the risk outside," said Saha on the question about KS Bharat. 

“I try to be the same irrespective of the situation. Whether I am performing or no, I don’t see any change in myself, no idea if others around me spot anything different. We can only try to perform – sometimes it clicks, sometimes it doesn’t – and the management takes the call based on all these parameters.

“Practice remains the same, irrespective of whether I am playing or not. I always try to improve, but yes, there is a huge gulf between a practice session and a professional match. It ultimately boils down to who delivers on the bigger stage,” he said.

India’s squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper; subject to fitness clearance).