I don’t look at Rishabh Pant as a competition: Wriddhiman Saha

Wriddhiman Saha last played for India last year against South Africa in the three-match Test series. Thereafter, he developed a string of injuries and it meant that he couldn’t play much of cricket. The Siliguri-born Bengal wicket-keeper batsman represented Sunrisers Hyderabad in the eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and hasn’t played any competitive cricket ever since.

In the meantime, India have tried out two keepers- Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant- and the latter has grabbed the opportunity with both hands and already has a couple of centuries in the longest format. However, the 34-year-old Saha doesn’t consider him as a competition by any means. Rather he wants to focus on his own performance in order to stage a comeback at the highest level.

After the injury layoff, Saha is looking forward to playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, which is set to get underway on Thursday, February 21. Bengal, led by batsman Manoj Tiwary, is scheduled to play their first match on the same day against Sikkim at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack and Saha is solely focusing on helping his team do well in the championship.

My job is to play to the best of my ability

“It definitely feels great to back in the mix after an injury layoff. Firstly for a sportsperson, there is nothing like the feeling of returning to the game and I don’t feel like I’ve been away for too long, rather just a couple of weeks or so, like a short break. Right now my focus is solely on helping Bengal do well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy,” Saha was quoted as saying in Cricket Next.

“Rishabh got his chance when I was out and just like anyone would look to grab their chance with both hands he did the same. I don’t look at him as my competition, in fact when he came to the NCA we spent a lot of time together which was nice. We hardly spoke about performances and selection.

My job is to play to the best of my ability and ensure I contribute to the needs of my team at all times. I feel the selection matters are not in my hand. So the main aim is to do well and then let things take its own course,” he added.

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