OPINION
Follow UsIt didn’t matter much in the larger scheme of things. Still, the news of Wriddhiman Saha finally being given the No-Objection Certificate by the Cricket Association of Bengal hit me pretty hard. It was always coming and was a formality by the CAB after they restrained from issuing a public apology on CAB joint-secretary Debabrata Das accusing Saha of skipping matches by giving all kinds of excuses.
"Mr Wriddhiman Saha came to CAB and in an application to President Avishek Dalmiya sought the NOC from the association. CAB gave concurrence to the request of Mr Saha and provided the NOC to him for playing for another state. CAB also wished him the very best for his future endeavours,” CAB said in a press release.
The smudged divorce is now public knowledge and if the reports are to be believed, Saha is already in discussion with Tripura Cricket Association for a mentor-cum-player role. That will be following a really traditional path of many domestic legends turning professionals but there is more to the story than what meets the eye. And the fact that the end opinion doesn’t get swayed away by the narratives on each side makes it a sad story for the Bengal cricket followers.
If it was an isolated incident that led to Saha doing what he did, then there are reasons for Bengal cricket officials to be disappointed about their handling of the situation. They had a chance to make it right and hence, make him stay, potentially ensuring Saha, who is out of favour in the Indian Test set-up and was already communicated the same by Head Coach Rahul Dravid, being a huge contributor to the state side. That didn’t happen and all that the cricket fans are left with is an unwanted situation.
It is relevant for a side that have been taking some rapid strides in the last few years, finishing as the finalists and the semi-finalists in the last couple of years. If the treatment that was meted out to Saha was not in good faith, then there are reasons to be suspicious and the mind automatically wanders back to the way Sreevats Goswami, who was dropped from the first-class side despite having strong credentials behind him, was treated in favor of Abhishek Porel.
Despite all that, they can be optimistic. The mantle of Sourav Ganguly’s Vision 2020 for Bengal Cricket has been excellently taken forward by Abhishek Dalmiya’s CAB and Bengal Cricket have once again turned out to be a big force in Indian cricket. Not least the final and semi-final appearances, the number of players making deep strides in the Indian cricketing landscape is staggering and Bengal should be well placed to leverage on that in times to come.
The Saha episode surely turned ugly, but then Tripura, who have remained stagnant for years now, can be hugely beneficial from the 37-year-old’s experience. During his time with the Indian team, especially in the later years, Saha was like a mentor figure for Rishabh Pant and the latter openly admitted the same for the amount of hard work that Saha, selflessly, put into his game to make him a better keeper in the difficult Indian conditions. Saha’s understanding of the conditions in Indian domestic cricket after playing 122 FC games - including 40 Test appearances - are unparalleled and if that helps Tripura bolster their performance even by 20%, it is going to be terrific.
Bengal would surely miss him, not because of the kind of player that he had been but more importantly for the calming presence that he endured over the years. But as they have come to know recently, they can move on from him and build a side for the future - just the way they were doing it when Saha was on national duty. But like many things with Saha, it is always the next step that defined him. Can he do that all over again?
