Cricket Xtra: Saha’s keeping is key for India

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  • Safe pair of hands: Wriddhiman Saha

    Hugely overshadowed by the stunning performances of Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Shami, it almost went unnoticed that Wriddhiman Saha, on Saturday, equalled the record for the most number of dismissals (six) in an innings by an Indian wicketkeeper in Tests, joining his predecessor Mahendra Singh Dhoni and World Cup winner Syed Kirmani as one of the three to have done so.

    This takes us to the larger question: how thankless is Saha’s job?

    Considering that he is replacing the talismanic former captain Dhoni behind the stumps, it is but obvious that there will be a lot of scrutiny on Saha, with every move of his put under the microscope.

    In fact, there’s been a lot of talk among cricket experts of how Saha – a keeper and batsman in the more classical mould – will be unable to match the depth that Dhoni brought to the side both behind and in front of the stumps. While Saha’s capabilities with the bat are underated, a discussion best left for another day, it is his glove work that very often doesn’t get the credit that it deserves.

    The reason why Saha was persisted with, at times with public backing from the Test captain Virat Kohli, is because he scores a lot more behind the stumps than many – including probably even Dhoni – would.

    A wicketkeeper’s place in the XI of a modern day Test team is often determined by the amount of runs he can score lower down the order – a dangerous metric that was brought about due to some extraordinary cricketers like Australia’s Adam Gilchrist. In reality however, a Test wicketkeeper needs to be judged on how sound he is with the gloves on, before his batting abilities are brought into focus.

    Unlike in one-dayers, in Tests, a wicketkeeper has to keep for days at a stretch requiring unwavering concentration. The consequences of lapses behind the stumps can prove costly as a large percentage of dismissals in Test cricket
    take place behind the stumps and a good Test keeper is mandatory alongside a safe slip cordon.

    Multiple teams – including the West Indies in the ongoing Test – have seen the repercussions of batsmen getting reprieves thanks to dropped catches. It is here that Saha brings a kind of safety as a keeper-batsman that very few batsman-keepers in Indian cricket fail to provide.

    Apart from being lean, something which allows him aerobic movement, Saha is organised in his technique when keeping to spinners.

    A case in point would be the manner in which he kept during the India-South Africa Test series late last year. Two stunning catches to dismiss AB de Villiers (in Bengaluru) and Dane Pietd (in Delhi) aside, his performance in the infamous Nagpur Test was telling.

    On a track that was pulled up by the ICC for its poor nature, where batsmen were clueless to deliveries turning square, the South African wicketkeeper conceded as many as 23 byes in the two innings, apart from missing a couple of chances due to the erratic nature of the track.

    In contrast, Saha held his own, allowing only nine byes and that too, just in the fourth innings of the game when the pitch had become unplayable. It was in that very game that umpire Ian Gould, a wicketkeeper in his play- ing days, couldn’t stop himself from applauding Saha’s efforts on the field.

    The safety net that a good keeper like Saha provides is invaluable and the cricketing universe will soon need to reconsider a keeper’s role in the side.

    Undue emphasis on batting abilities devalues the specialist nature of the role to an extent, and leads to unreasonable expectations where every keeper is expected to do a Gilchrist.

    For now, India is lucky to have someone who will go about doing his job behind the stumps in a no nonsense fashion, especially considering that the team was suffering on that front due to Dhoni’s reluctance to go for the half-chances in the twilight of his Test career.

    In the future, a good metric to measure keepers would be to evaluate the potential runs they save by converting half-chances like Saha did against de Villiers in Bengaluru – batting in the 80s in his 100th Test. The Protean was looking unstoppable until an extraordinary effort from Saha got him dismissed.

    Had Saha, and later rain, not intervened, de Villiers could very well have gone on to score a double hundred. So the keeper’s contribution in that game – by saving 120 runs for his side – far outweigh the 60 or 70 useful runs he could have scored with the bat.

    Reality however, is a little cruel towards contributions such as these. But until we start appreciating what he does, one can expect Saha to continue to contribute without making any complains.

    He remains India’s quietest cog in the giant Test wheel and the safest net behind the stumps. Until more serious contenders show up, it’s the Saha way.

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