Wriddhiman Saha’s wife says wicketkeeper ‘hurt’ by comments, ‘not willing to play’ Ranji Trophy for Bengal

Somehow the controversies surrounding Wriddhiman Saha don’t seem to end as he has said that he will not play for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy 2021-22 knockouts. The reason for the same is due to the unresolved issues with the state association. 

The 37-year-old wicketkeeper-batter in fact even asked the state side to issue a no-objection certificate, which will help him continue his domestic career elsewhere.

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The whole issue began in February when Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) joint secretary Debabrata Das accused Saha of giving “all sorts of excuses” to “skip” Ranji matches.

Das’ comments had come after Saha was reluctant to play for Bengal at the start of the Ranji Trophy season earlier this year. This was also around the time when the wicketkeeper was dropped from Team India’s Test side.

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“Tell me, why should Wriddhi not play in the Ranji Trophy for Bengal?” Das was quoted in the Sangbad Pratidin daily on February 22. “He is not in the Indian team, why should he not play for Bengal? Then we have to assume that he feels no responsibility towards Bengal.

“In the past, too, there have been many occasions when he has refused to play for Bengal. When we have spoken to him, he has given all sorts of excuses and skipped games. Sometimes it’s body ache, sometimes he has a pain in his leg.”

The comment did not go down well with the cricketer. The senior wicketkeeper batter’s wife Romi said that her husband was hurt by the comment and had approached CAB president Avishek Dalmiya to talk about the same. The latter had assured Saha that Das had spoken in a personal capacity. 

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However, Saha still wanted the issue to be addressed before he played for Bengal again to which Dalmiya had agreed. They decided that they would look into it after the end of the IPL.

But things did not turn out the way it wanted for the Gujarat Titans (GT) keeper as he was added to the Bengal squad on May 16 and Saha was surprised to see his name in it.

According to ESPNcricinfo, Saha who is part of the GT franchise and will be playing in the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 on Sunday, had a talk with Dalmiya so after. He reiterated his stance and said that in case the dispute is not resolved, he wanted a no-objection certificate to leave the state.

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Now, Saha will not be part of the Bengal squad that will be playing against Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final starting June 6 in Bengaluru.

“The Cricket Association of Bengal wanted Wriddhiman Saha to play for Bengal at this crucial juncture especially when Bengal would be fighting in the Knockout stage in a bid to win the Ranji Trophy after becoming the top-ranked team in the country at the end of the Group Stage,” Dalmiya was quoted as saying on a CAB press statement on Thursday.

“I had expressed this to Wriddhiman and had requested him to reconsider his decision. However, Wriddhiman has now communicated to us that he is not willing to play the Ranji Knockouts.”