The Indian team’s support staff and the captain Virat Kohli have scratched their head over selection of Rishabh Pant and Wriddhiman Saha in Test matches. Pant had a perfect start to his Test career when Saha was recovering from injury. The left-hander scored centuries in England and Australia and impressed with his pyrotechnics.
In fact, he became the first Indian wicket-keeper to achieve the rare feat. However, there is no doubt that Pant still needs to work on his wicket-keeping. Meanwhile, when Saha recovered from injury and made a comeback into the Test squad, he was backed as a first choice wicket-keeper batsman in the home season.
Indian head coach Ravi Shastri had revealed they went with Saha because of his wicket-keeping skills while keeping against the spinners in Indian conditions, where the ball turns miles.
On the other hand, the keeping gloves were passed to Rishabh Pant on the tour of New Zealand as the pitches there don’t assist the spinners.
Hogg feels that even if India has to compromise on some stumpings in the Test fold, they should back Rishabh Pant over Wriddhiman Saha because he is a better batsman. Pant brings explosiveness to the table and he can take the attack to the opposition while batting with the lower order.
“Pant’s batting is more explosive than Saha. If you look at India’s top order, their top five do the bulk of the world. What you need from your no. 7 is someone to come out and take the game on, and get as many runs as quickly as possible,” said Brad Hogg on his YouTube channel Hogg’s vlog.
“It moves the game forward and gives the bowlers more time to take 20 wickets, which you need in a Test match. So, for me, even if Pant misses a few stumpings that Saha would get, he puts the team in a much better position than Saha to win the Test match with his bat,” Brad Hogg said.
Pant could only score 60 runs on the New Zealand tour and could not deliver the goods with the bat. The southpaw has scored 814 runs in 13 Test matches at an average of 38.76 with the help of two fifties and as many centuries. The left-hander has scored his runs at a strike rate of 68.57 and can take the attack on the opposition.
On the other hand, Wriddhiman Saha has amassed 1238 runs in 37 Test matches at an average of 30.19 with the help of three centuries and five fifties.
