Former India wicket-keeper Deep Dasgupta wants Wriddhiman Saha to be given the nod ahead of Rishabh Pant in the upcoming Test series against South Africa owing to his superior wicket-keeping skills. Dasgupta also hailed Saha as the best wicket-keeper in the world and wanted him to wickets on rather challenging surfaces in India.
“Post his recovery from injury, Wriddhi has delivered and done whatever one has asked of him. There is no shadow of doubt that he is the best wicket-keeper in the world at present. The only question was whether Wriddhi was a good enough batsman, especially when the team is looking to play five bowlers,” Dasgupta was quoted as saying in The Telegraph.
However, he was quick to concede that Rishabh Pant remains the better batsman and this could well influence the decision of the management when they make the final call, but if they went purely with wicket-keeping skills, Saha should be the preferred option.
“Yes, one may ask if Wriddhi is a better batsman than Rishabh… Well, maybe not. Then the question arises that in this format, do you prefer a better keeper or a better batsman? But going by what I saw of Rishabh in the West Indies as far as his keeping is concerned and what’s expected at home in the coming Tests, I would go with Wriddhi,” he added.
Despite a solid start to his Test career, Rishabh Pant finds himself under a lot of pressure due to a string of inconsistent scores in the recent past. India take on South Africa in a 3-match Test series, the first of which will be played in Visakhapatnam on October 2.
