By: Drcricket7 Staff
The Indian team is going with just one specialist wicketkeeper to the West Indies. Wriddhiman Saha will be keeping stumps in the four-match Test series, starting July 21 in Antigua.
Saha will be starting in the opening match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium solely on the basis of his wicketkeeping. The Bengal player has failed to stamp himself as a reliable batsman lower down the order.
Test captain Virat Kohli has backed Saha, despite his under-par performances with the bat, saying that the team needs a specialist keeper in Test matches, and Saha is team’s first choice.
KL Rahul, who has been in sublime touch this season, has kept wickets in Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore. The Test captain explained that Rahul will be Saha’s backup in the role.
“Whenever KL Rahul has played, he has filled in opener’s slot,” Virat Kohli said. “But, when it comes to keeping Wriddhiman is our first-choice keeper. His batting has also improved a lot and we are backing him.”
“In Test matches, when it comes to half-chances, you need a specialist keeper who can execute catches properly,” he added. “A part-time keeper will find this situation harder.”
“We will think about Rahul if Saha is injured as then we will also have to make our middle-order strong,” the Indian Test captain explained.
Rahul has scored heavily this season in the IPL and also during the Zimbabwe tour. It will be tough for Kohli to ignore the opener, while players like Shikhar Dhawan and Saha will be under pressure.
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