Courtesy: BCCI/X
Wriddhiman Saha, the Indian wicket-keeper batter, who announced his retirement from all forms of cricket recently, made a startling revelation about how his wife and former BCCI President Sourav Ganguly pushed him to play domestic cricket for Bengal this season. The 40-year-old had a plan to retire from cricket at the end of last season before he postponed it to play for his state in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season.
Notably, during his cricketing career, Wriddhiman Saha played 40 Test matches for the Indian cricket team after debuting against South Africa in Nagpur in 2010. Apart from scoring 1,353 runs at an average of 29.41 with three hundreds, the right-handed batter also made nine appearances for the national team in the ODI format without much success, but all this while, it was his wicket-keeping skills, which were admired the most the world over.
I wasn't going to play this year. But Sourav Ganguly and my wife pushed me to play: Wriddhiman Saha
In an exclusive report from Cricbuzz, Wriddhiman Saha alluded to the reasons behind why he chose to play another year of domestic cricket for Bengal. He was quoted as saying, “I wasn't going to play this year. But Sourav Ganguly and my wife pushed me to play in Bengal this year. I played in Tripura for two years and then came to Bengal, and I am pushing for the last year. But this season, due to my body condition and injuries, I won't be able to play for the full season. So I chose the most vital format. It will still be tough, but I will play.”
Apart from confirming that he hasn’t put his name in the upcoming IPL 2025 mega auction, Wriddhiman Saha also remarked that he didn’t find the decision to retire a difficult one. He said, “It was very easy for me. I was already prepared that I won't even play this year. I'd been prepared from last year itself that I wasn't going to play this year, but I've been pushed [to play on]. So I couldn't refuse them [his wife, and Ganguly]. When I started from Bengal last year, I played there again and there was an emotional attachment.”
Wriddhiman Saha has made his return to Bengal domestic team for the 2024-25 season after playing for Tripura for the past two seasons.
