Bengal's veteran wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha took to the final for the final time on Friday. The 40-year-old was set to retire but Sourav Ganguly changed his mind to continue and end the season after the final Ranji Trophy match. Bengal are playing Punjab at the Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata.
Ahead of the second innings, Bengal players gave a guard of honour to Saha who took the gloves for the last time. The veteran star had a huge smile on his face as he ran to the field to take his place behind the stumps. Saha was also felicitated for his long-standing career.
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The former India star scored a duck in the first innings as he fell to Gurnoor Brar caught by Anmol Malhotra. Punjab had scored 191 in their first innings with Malhotra scoring 106 not out from 111 balls. Sumit Mohanta and Suraj Jaiswal were the best bowlers for the home side with four wickets each.
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Wriddhiman Saha exits cricket after valiant service
40-year-old Saha played 40 Test matches for India and nine ODI games. After Dhoni’s Test retirement, it was Saha who was India’s first-choice keeper till 2021. His last game for India came against New Zealand in Mumbai where he scored 27 and 13 with the bat as well keeping well to the spinners.
With Rahul Dravid taking over as the coach, Saha’s career came to an end. Speaking about this, the former India star said to the Times of India "I wouldn't call it injustice. That would be selfish. Maybe it wasn't just one person's decision. Maybe I wasn't capable enough or didn't deliver as expected, so they made their choice. If I had performed better, this wouldn't have happened. I don't dwell on it, I just take the positives from whatever comes my way”
Saha also recounted how his family and former skipper Sourav Ganguly urged him to play one more Ranji season. “I had planned to retire last season itself. But only because of Dadi (Sourav Ganguly) and my wife Romi, I pushed it to this season. Otherwise, I would have retired by now,"
When speaking about his approach to the game, Saha said “I've always been like this. It's my choice to be carefree. I don't seek attention. I just want to remain the same humble player on the field. I've always been comfortable with that. I've never been an emotional person, even as a child. There's no special sentiment about playing my last match. I'll go out with my friends like always”