"An extremely special player is No. 1 keeper" - Vikram Rathour confirms Saha's role won't change despite fifty in 1st India vs New Zealand Test
Team India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour has confirmed that Rishabh Pant is India’s No.1 wicketkeeper and will take over the duties from Wriddhiman Saha once he is back from his break.
Saha got an opportunity to play the ongoing Kanpur Test against New Zealand after Pant was rested for the series. Saha did not keep wickets on Saturday due to a stiff neck but came out to bat on Sunday and scored a dogged fifty to bail India out of trouble. The hosts crumbled to 51 for 5 in the opening session before Saha and debutant Shreyas Iyer (65) rescued them.
Speaking at a press conference at the end of the fourth day’s play, Rathour praised Saha for putting his hand up and doing the job for the team. However, he conceded that the 37-year-old will remain back-up keeper to Pant. Rathour, a former India opener, commented:
"Unfortunately for Wriddhi, we have an extremely special player, Rishabh Pant, who is the No. 1 keeper for the team, who has done extremely well for us in the past two years. That's the role Wriddhi has at the moment. He is there whenever we need him. Whenever Pant is not there. Again he showed today with the knock he played today that how important he is and how good he is."
#TeamIndia Batting Coach Vikram Rathour heaps praise on team-man @Wriddhipops. 👌 👌
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Saha, despite looking in some discomfort, batted for 126 balls and remained unbeaten on 61, hitting four fours and a six.
“We are sure they will come back and play more important knocks” - Vikram Rathour on Rahane and Pujara
While India are in a strong position in Kanpur, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane will end another Test with failures against their names. Pujara fell for 20s in both innings, while stand-in skipper Rahane made 35 and 4.
Despite their long list of failures, Rathour claimed that the management has not lost faith in the duo yet. The 52-year-old asserted:
"Of course we want our top order to contribute, but the cricketers you mentioned have played 80 and 90 Test matches so they have the experience. Of course to play that many games they must have done well for us. I understand both of them are going through a lean phase but they have played very very important knocks for us in the past, and we are pretty sure they will come back and play more important knocks for our team in the future as well."
What an intriguing day of Test cricket it has been! 🙌
#TeamIndia will come out tomorrow hunting for the 9⃣ wickets. 👊
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Rahane has not scored a hundred since the famous Boxing Day ton against Australia last year. He had an abysmal tour of England. Pujara had a decent series in England, but hasn’t crossed three figures since January 2019.