What next for Saha?

[ShoonyaSifar]

The current WTC cycle has ended. Pant has cemented his place as the leading keeper-batsman across formats.

 

Where does that leave Saha? Should we still take him to England for the WTC and the subsequent Test series? IMO it's time to move on from him and pick a younger keeper. KS Bharat has been groomed as Saha's successor as a pure keeper and deserves a chance. Later Kishan could be groomed as the number 2 across formats

 

Saga has had a very good career during the transition from Dhoni era. Perhaps now he could be part of the team setup as a keeping coach, else he will definitely get called up by Rahul Dravid to be on NCA coaches panel.

[Vijy]

34 minutes ago, ShoonyaSifar said:

The current WTC cycle has ended. Pant has cemented his place as the leading keeper-batsman across formats.

 

Where does that leave Saha? Should we still take him to England for the WTC and the subsequent Test series? IMO it's time to move on from him and pick a younger keeper. KS Bharat has been groomed as Saha's successor as a pure keeper and deserves a chance. Later Kishan could be groomed as the number 2 across formats

 

Saga has had a very good career during the transition from Dhoni era. Perhaps now he could be part of the team setup as a keeping coach, else he will definitely get called up by Rahul Dravid to be on NCA coaches panel.

yes, this is pretty much saha's end. pant cannot keep in every single T20, ODI and test that Ind plays because this job is very grueling. hence, we need to identify 2-3 keepers who can serve as effective backups in diff formats. kishan in T20s, rahul/kishan in ODIs, and someone in tests - I like what I have seen of wadkar's batting & keeping.

Edited March 7, 2021 by Vijy

[King6]

Retirement

[Vk1]

groom kishans bharats etc

[test fan]

He is excellent wk so BCCI  can use him  to groom younger generation of wkin future.

[Vijy]

43 minutes ago, sarchasm said:

KS Bharat's team mate Ricky Bhui is one who should be seriously looked at and groomed as Pant's back up. Much higher batting ceiling than Bharat and keeps for his team in LA matches.

bhui is not a regular keeper; he's begun taking up the gloves recently. could be considered for limited overs perhaps but not for tests.

[Suhaan]

Here is K S Bharat batting in this video ,looks to have a game against express pace ,got pulls in his armoury

Not bad though

 

His FC average is around 38 needs to improve that 

Edited March 7, 2021 by Suhaan

[Vijy]

49 minutes ago, sarchasm said:

He's not a regular keeper because Bharat has taken that role. Have you seen them both keep to tell Bhui won't be able to handle keeping in longer format? If he can keep in LOIs, he can keep in longer format too.

yes, I've seen him. shoddy-to-average keeping from bhui. bharat's keeping is quite excellent (not saha level of course) but his batting is unconvincing. have you seen bhui keep?

[kirkutfan]

Near future,  Saha needs to open for SRH, score runs. He is needed as the 2nd wk. While Rishabh is going strong- help him out with wk skills. But at the same time be ready to play if needed.

Edited March 7, 2021 by kirkutfan

[Vijy]

11 minutes ago, kirkutfan said:

Near future,  Saha needs to open for SRH, score runs. He is needed as the 2nd wk. While Rishabh is going strong- help him out with wk skills. But at the same time be ready to play if needed.

but he cannot be a long-term backup keeper. this is why it's better to start identifying younger alternatives who can help pant rest at times - kishan, bharat, KLR (in LOIs), wadkar, etc.

[Serpico]

IPL 

[ShoonyaSifar]

2 hours ago, sarchasm said:

KS Bharat's team mate Ricky Bhui is one who should be seriously looked at and groomed as Pant's back up. Much higher batting ceiling than Bharat and keeps for his team in LA matches.

Bhui is a bit too bulky for being a keeper batsman.

 

Bharat or Akshay Wadkar of Vidarbha have to be groomed as Saha's successor.

 

For some reason Ankur Bains of Himachal has had a smooth run for India A sides without producing much in return.

[dilliboy]

Couple of seasons in the IPL and a coaching career... He has had a decent career, now time for him to concentrate outside int cricket. 

 

Anuj Rawat is another one who can be looked at... Not sure how his FC record ia though

[Vijy]

23 minutes ago, ShoonyaSifar said:

Bhui is a bit too bulky for being a keeper batsman.

 

Bharat or Akshay Wadkar of Vidarbha have to be groomed as Saha's successor.

 

For some reason Ankur Bains of Himachal has had a smooth run for India A sides without producing much in return.

I like wadkar. seen him keep in a few games. unflashy and efficient keeper - not very athletic but is a safe catcher and stumper. and his batting has a certain solidity than few other domestic keepers have. he is one more player who could play in top 6 in long format.

[express bowling]

The backup for Pant has to be a top 6 batsman cum good enough keeper.

Edited March 7, 2021 by express bowling

[vvvslaxman]

Becoming a spinning all rounder? lol Think about guys like Karun Nair, Thakur and Soon Sundar. They will be watching from the sidelines.  Pant's keeping has improved a lot in this series. So Pant has closed all the doors effectively.

[Vijy]

2 minutes ago, express bowling said:

The backup for Pant has to be a top 6 batsman cum good enough keeper.

agreed. and this has to be true for the appropriate format the backup is being chosen. I think it can be wadkar in Tests (bharath is not top 6 material), KLR/Kishan in ODIs, and Kishan/Samson in T20s. two others to keep an eye on are prabhsimran singh and anuj rawat.

[express bowling]

4 minutes ago, Vijy said:

agreed. and this has to be true for the appropriate format the backup is being chosen. I think it can be wadkar in Tests (bharath is not top 6 material), KLR/Kishan in ODIs, and Kishan/Samson in T20s. two others to keep an eye on are prabhsimran singh and anuj rawat.

 

 

Rahul basically takes care of LOIs as backup keeper. In fact, he is the first keeper now.

 

The main issue is test matches.

 

Pant at 6 is providing a lot of balance to our team. 

 

Bharat seems to be the chosen backup.

 

I don't think Wadkar is being considered yet.

 

 

[Cricketics]

Saha goes back to domestic and play for as long as he wants because he has earned it to play for his state as he did also for India when he got his Indian cap.  Keeping skills wise, one of the best to turn up for India in test cricket. Time to move on now though. We got to have young back ups. 

 

Thank you to Saha for his services to Indian national team. 

 

[Vijy]

3 minutes ago, express bowling said:

 

 

Rahul basically takes care of LOIs as backup keeper. In fact, he is the first keeper now.

 

The main issue is test matches.

 

Pant at 6 is providing a lot of balance to our team. 

 

Bharat seems to be the chosen backup.

 

I don't think Wadkar is being considered yet.

 

 

yes, MSK prasad anointed bharath as the "chosen one". but I don't think this decision was correct - bharath is a fine keeper (maybe even a bit better than wadkar), but wadkar is the better package. he might be the only keeper in domestics averaging over 50 (apart from pant). moreover, he is organized, technically quite sound, and has played several crucial lower-order rescue acts for vidarbha. Anuj rawat may have the potential in FC but he has not translated it yet.