Saha shouldn’t have gone public with communication from chief selector, BCCI, says Ganguly’s brother

Team India’s Test squad for the forthcoming home series versus Sri Lanka was revealed on Saturday (February 19). The squad news made heads turn as the national selectors announced Rohit Sharma as the new Test captain, making him India’s full-time skipper, whereas senior pros such as Cheteshwar Pujara, Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Wriddhiman Saha failed to make the cut.

Saha’s omission made maximum noise as the veteran keeper-batter made some explosive claims post his exclusion. In an interview with Sportstar, the 37-year-old wicketkeeper claimed that head coach Rahul Dravid had told him that the team management is not considering him for future series — after the South Africa Tests — as they want to groom a young KS Bharat as the second keeper-batter after Rishabh Pant.

Further, Saha also revealed that he was assured of his place in the Test side by BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly post the first Test between India and New Zealand at Kanpur, in late 2021. Now, Ganguly’s brother Snehashish Ganguly — who is also the secretary of Cricket Association of Bengal’s (CAB) — feels Saha shouldn’t have disclosed private chats from BCCI officials, head coach and chief selector.

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“This is my personal opinion, but what was communicated to him (Saha) by the chief selector/BCCI was private. He probably shouldn’t have gone public with that. Also, he could have played the Ranji Trophy. He cited personal reasons for pulling out and we have to respect that. The door is always open for him, whenever he wants to join the squad,” said Snehashish in a press conference. 

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After his claims on Dravid and Ganguly, Saha also dropped a bomb by exposing a journalist who was threatening him after the former didn’t entertain his interview requests. Since then, many former cricketers have supported Saha as BCCI is reportedly investigating the whole case.

Saha isn’t a part of Bengal’s squad in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2021/22 edition — due to personal reasons — and will next be seen for Gujarat Titans (GT) in IPL 2022.