Veteran India wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha stated that nothing can be achieved by force if a player doesn’t want to play domestic cricket while adding that it is the base and every player should value it enough to prosper. Saha’s remarks came after Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were not offered new contracts for the 2023-24 season, with the BCCI stating that the two players were not considered in this round.

Ishan had been out of cricketing action after pulling out of India’s Tests against South Africa last year due to personal reasons. He was reported to be training in Baroda and missed the entire Ranji Trophy campaign for Jharkhand. Recently, Ishan returned to action via the ongoing DY Patil T20 tournament in Navi Mumbai.

On the other hand, after being omitted from India’s Test squad for last three Tests against England, Shreyas missed Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Baroda reportedly due to back issues, despite the NCA reportedly passing him fit. Iyer has been named in Mumbai’s squad for the Ranji Trophy semi-final against Tamil Nadu starting on March 2 at the BKC Ground.

Wriddhiman Saha has his say on Iyer, Kishan snub

“That is BCCI’s decision and the personal decision of the concerned players. Forcefully, you can’t do anything,” Wriddhiman Saha said about Kishan and Iyer’s axe to PTI

Saha said a cricketer should treat every match with equal importance citing his example.

“Whenever I am fit I play, even I played club matches, office matches as well. I always treat a match as a match. All matches are equal for me. If every player thinks on those lines, they will only prosper in their career and it will be better for Indian cricket as well,” he said.

Saha, who played 40 tests for India, went on to highlight the importance of domestic cricket citing the likes of Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel.

“I feel the importance of domestic cricket is always there because if I talk about Sarfaraz Khan, he had scored plenty of runs in the last 4-5 years. He has delivered.”

“I have never seen him in domestic cricket, even in Test matches I have seen his highlights. But his batting is outstanding, he won the last Test for the team,” Saha said about Dhruv Jurel.

Saha also feels the future of Indian cricket is bright because of its bench strength while once again underlining the importance of domestic circuit. “It is always good to see that your reserve bench is ready, whenever somebody is getting chance,” he said.

“Over that, some players are getting opportunity but don’t want to play, which they shouldn’t. Whenever you get a chance to play, you should play whether it is red ball or white ball.”

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