People have tried to prove that I am finished: Wriddhiman Saha

Wriddhiman Saha last played for India in December 2021. He was not given a chance in India’s 2-1 loss to South Africa and there are no clear indications that at 37, if he will be picked for India in future.

After making it clear to the Cricket Association of Bengal that he will not be playing in the state’s Ranji Trophy campaign, Saha in an interview with Sportstar delved into the matters of his long career.

Asked about how it feels to hear about the retirement talks in the media, Saha stated that despite his good performances people have tried to prove that he was finished.

“After I underwent the surgery in 2018, I was the second wicketkeeper, so I think since then, a lot of people were indicating that my time is up. Even though nobody said anything openly, there were enough indications that maybe they are planning something different,” Saha said.

He further stated that things were made fairly clear to him after KS Bharat was included as a reserve in the England home series that India were trying to move on.

“During the home series against England last year, Kona (K.S. Bharath) was brought in as the reserve. So, does not that indicate that he is in the reckoning? It was obvious that they were bringing him into the squad with a (long-term) plan and allowing him to get used to the set-up.”

Quashing his retirement announcement Saha said that he will not retire ‘just because people have been talking about it’ and stated that he is on a break after a long time on the road.

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PSL 2022 | After dominating Karachi leg, Multan start Lahore campaign with comprehensive win over Zalmi

Multans Sultans have made it six in a row. After finishing the Karachi-leg undefeated, the Mohammad Rizwan-led side started their Lahore campaign with a strong win against Peshawar Zalmi on Thursday, 10 February. The Multan based side have so many heroes in their team that even on the days their Superman fails to turn up, there are multiple people waiting to rise up to the occasion to take them over the line. And it was that kind of a day for Sultans through and through. First, it was Shan Masood’s 68 off 49 balls that made sure that despite Rizwan’s struggling innings (34 off 34) Sultans were not put into a slump. Rizwan also understood that it was not to be his day and kept on giving Masood strike in the very first ball of the overs. The duo raced to 53/0 in the first 6 overs with Masood on 39 off 25 and Rizwan taking the secondary role at 9 off 11. And then came the slump. With Liam Livingstone and Shoaib Malik operating between the 7th to 10th over, Multan did not score any boundaries. Pressure resulted in back to back wickets of Rizwan and Masood that ended up opening the floodgates for Multan. But this time it was Tim David who came to the rescue. Coming in one down, David smashed his way to a 18-ball 34 which took them to a safe score. Things would have been much better for Multan if it were not for the regular falling of wickets in the last five overs which stunted their momentum. They lost 6 wickets in the last five overs and scored just 50 runs despite David’s exceptional innings. Coming into bowl in the second innings, Multan knew that they had to bowl well against a very long batting line up of Zalmi. However it was once again one of their lesser known players that stood up and delivered the goods when required. Blessing Muzrabani was the wrecker in chief predominantly with his slower balls, which got the better of Zalmi batsmen. The Zimbabwe international took two wickets in his very first over and got rid of Kamran Akmal and Haider Ali - two batsmen who have shown how dangerous they can be if given a chance. Abbas Afridi used the bounce from the fresh deck to get rid of Liam Livingstone who had just started to shift gears similar to what Shahnawaz Dahani did later in the innings. He banged in a couple of short on to grab two wickets while the combined efforts of Imran Tahir and Khushdil Shah did the rest. Zalmi never looked comfortable as the required rate rose and lost the chase halfway through the game by losing four early wickets. Ben Cutting played some shots late in the innings scoring 23 off 11, but it would have required a monumental support from the other side for anything to materialise. At the end, Zalmi failed to play their registered 20 overs and got bundled at 140 with three balls remaining. Shan Masood was adjudged man of the match for his gritty fight of 68. With the win, Sultans are now six points clear of the second best team and have a healthy run rate of +1.243.

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IND vs WI | Visitors look to get their act back in order as India’s experiments continue

Everything that happens in the ODI format in the subcontinent needs to be looked at in the context of the 2023 ODI World Cup. India have been forced to do experiments in lieu of the unfortunate Covid-19 result, while the West Indies are looking to set up a new team that can sustain them for over the next 4-5 years. While India have reaped the benefits of Washington Sundar’s new revamped trajectory the West Indies are still searching for a foothold in the series. With that in mind, we move into the third and the final game of the series where Rohit Sharma has clearly mentioned that India will look to experiment. The dressing room leaders in the West Indian team have asked for the batters to put more prize on their wickets, but that is yet to be seen. The visitors have stitched just one 50+ partnership in the series and it is not helping the bowling department that has been running up and putting their heart into what they do. Indians got a taste of Odean Smith - who has been demanding a first team spot through the last series, rattled the Indian batters with his short deliveries. West Indies would hope that their batting department can follow it up in this final game. Match Details India vs West Indies Match - 3 Date & Time - 11 February, Friday at 1:30 PM IST Venue - Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad Broadcast - Star Sports Network Pitch Report Ahmedabad has supported spin throughout the series, but there was good carry in the last game which Prasidh Krishna exploited. It also needs to be pointed out that the second match was played on a red soil pitch and if it is the case again, then pacers will be able to extract more bounce than the first ODI. If you win the toss, bat first. Team News West Indies For the visitors, the only thing that will keep them going is the new structure of the ICC. The ODI Super League awards 10 points if you win a game, and every win against India in India counts as a big difference. There is no news of Kieron Pollard returning to fitness at the moment, so it is possible that Windies might not change up their order. Probable Playing XI Brandon King, Shai Hope (wk), Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Nicholas Pooran (c), Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Fabien Allen, Odean Smith, Alzarri Joseph and Kemar Roach India India have stated that they would be looking to experiment and it is really a toss up as to who comes in and who gets out. We have only seen Deepak Hooda bowl once in the series, so it might be possible that he is given one more shout. Deepak Chahar could be given a chance in place of Shardul Thakur, while Kuldeep Yadav could be tried in place of Washington Sundar. Probable Playing XI Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Shardul Thakur/Deepak Chahar, Washington Sundar/Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal/Ravi Bishnoi and Prasidh Krishna. CE Fantasy XI Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli, Darren Bravo, Brandon King, Jason Holder (vc), Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, Prashidh Krishna, Alzarri Joseph