The veteran Indian wicket-keeper batter, Wriddhiman Saha shared a string of WhatsApp messages sent by a journalist to him. He was recently dropped from the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka and now he has been hogging a lot of limelight in the cricketing fraternity. In the screenshots, there were messages from someone Saha described as “a respected journalist” who was asking for an interview. The reports of the Indian Express claim that the BCCI will ask the cricketer to reveal the unnamed person’s identity before taking further action.
Meanwhile, Wriddhiman Saha has received tremendous support from the former cricketers who have expressed empathy and urged Saha to reveal the journalist’s name. Here are some of the reactions from the former Indian cricketers like Ravi Shastri, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Sing, etc:
Please name him wriddhi! I promise you as a representative of players, I will make sure our cricket community boycotts this so called journalist!! https://t.co/XmorYAyGvW
— Pragyan Ojha (@pragyanojha) February 20, 2022
Wridhi you just name the person so that the cricket community knows who operates like this. Else even the good ones will be put under suspicion.. What kind of journalism is this ? @BCCI @Wriddhipops @JayShah @SGanguly99 @ThakurArunS players should be protected https://t.co/sIkqtIHsvt
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) February 20, 2022
Extremely sad. Such sense of entitlement, neither is he respected nor a journalist, just chamchagiri.
With you Wriddhi. https://t.co/A4z47oFtlD— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) February 20, 2022
Shocking a player being threatened by a journo. Blatant position abuse. Something that's happening too frequently with #TeamIndia. Time for the BCCI PREZ to dive in. Find out who the person is in the interest of every cricketer. This is serious coming from ultimate team man WS https://t.co/gaRyfYVCrs
— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) February 20, 2022
When it is about BCCI or cricketers, we hear so many ‘sources’ from all the journalists. Can a single source tell me who this so called journalist is who has threatened Saha? #cricketwitter https://t.co/C9PRjcaNES
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) February 20, 2022
Usually calm and impassive, Wriddhiman Saha shared some of the conversations with chief selector Chetan Sharma and head coach, Rahul Dravid. However, the chief selector had told the media that it was not the end of the road for Saha and other seniors. Apparently, Saha’s decision not to take part in Ranji Trophy has become one of the reasons for his snub. Even Dravid suggested Saha take a call on his retirement.
ALSO READ: Rahul Dravid Reasons His Conversation With Wriddhiman Saha
Wriddhiman Saha also claimed that Ganguly had messaged him after his defiant 61 against Sri Lanka in Kanpur that “as long as I’m here (helming the BCCI), you would be in the team”. Saha said, “Such a message from the BCCI president really boosted my confidence. What I’m struggling to understand is how things have changed so fast.”
Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) secretary Snehasish Ganguly said that Saha should have desisted from publicly commenting on a private conversation between him and the selectors or BCCI. He also said that the wicketkeeper should have played the first round of the Ranji Trophy.
ALSO READ: Wriddhiman Saha Reveals His Conversation With The Indian Team Management
As per the quotes of Indian Express, Snehasish Ganguly said, “This is my personal opinion, but what was communicated to him (Saha) by the chief selector or BCCI was private. He probably shouldn’t have gone public with that. Also, he could have played the Ranji Trophy. He cited personal reasons for pulling out and we have to respect that. The door is always open for him, whenever he wants to join the squad,”
