Wriddhiman Saha being preferred over the young Rishabh Pant during the ongoing Test series against South was immensely questioned. While Saha has got to bat in just one chance to bat so far in Vizag Tes when he scored a quickfire 21 as India were aiming for a declaration, but his wicketkeeping has been top-notch all series and he gave quite a few testimonies of the same during the ongoing Pune Test.
After Virat Kohli chose to enforce the follow on, India pacers Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma picked up a couple of quick wickets to put the opposition on backfoot. But it was Theunis de Bruyn’s wicket which has turned Saha into an instant internet sensation. Length delivery from Umesh on de Bruyn’s pads was deflected by the batsman only for Saha to taking e a flying catch while diving full stretch to his left. Kohli was so happy with Saha’s effort that he kissed him on the forehead.
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The South African skipper, Faf du Plessis was given out caught behind as R Ashwin tosses an off-break, gets it to turn in, Faf inches forward, proded at the ball and inside-edges it onto the pad. It dies on Saha, who plugged the ball in the fourth attempt while plunging forward inches from the ground.
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Twitter soon erupted, using all kinds of hyperboles to describe Saha. Here are the videos of the flying catches, followed by a few reactions:
juggling saha…!!https://t.co/T0JtXAwYdz
— Cricket Videos (@CricketVideos15) October 13, 2019
Saha's catch…!!https://t.co/VWj8YOGP7Q
— Cricket Videos (@CricketVideos15) October 13, 2019
🙌 Wriddhiman 'Superman' Saha 🙌
That has to be Saha's wicket as much as it is Umesh's. Throws himself down the leg side and grabs the ball with his left hand.
What a catch to dismiss Bruyn 👏👏#INDvSA #OrangeArmy #RiseWithUs
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) October 13, 2019
Fantastic catch by Saha.. justifying his selection and why he is considered the best in the business #INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/N83BuVNkFL
— Ajesh Kumar (@ajesh06) October 13, 2019
Superman Saha! He just might bring pure wicketkeeping back into vogue. Down the legside, one-handed and he makes it look easy. Such a joy to watch him behind the wickets. pic.twitter.com/jAE8vRcd5N
— Ashish Magotra (@clutchplay) October 13, 2019
Wah wah Saha! Outstanding leg side catch, best I’ve seen in years👏👏 Horrid start by SA suggests match may not go into last day
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) October 13, 2019
Absolutely brilliant new ball bowling from India this morning. And @Wriddhipops, you are a rock star.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 13, 2019
Fly & Catch – Saha Style https://t.co/ETbaFqoTOd
— SAHIL GUPTA (@meetsahil) October 13, 2019
Why is there a first slip, or even a second slip when SAHA is keeping? #INDvSA
— Uncle Duckworth (@NewGenFan) October 13, 2019
Incidentally, it was de Bruyn who was sent back by Saha on Day 3 with another diving catch – this time to his right. He has often been rated as one of the best stumpers in the world. The Proteas were eventually bowled out for 275, still, 326 runs behind India’s mammoth first innings score of 601/5d. “Be strong. Be you,” Saha wrote on his Twitter handle with the video of his catch that drew many plaudits.
Be strong. Be you. #IndiaVsSouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/iNuDSJCZwg
— Wriddhiman Saha (@Wriddhipops) October 13, 2019
Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin at the end of Day 3 also didn’t forget to praise Wriddhiman Saha’s superb glovework. He said, “It’s a no-brainer to say that Saha is one of the best going around. I have hardly seen him miss anything from the rough and today you saw how he took Rabada’s (missed) cover drive. Saha has also got great composure too and you can’t really rule him out with the bat either. He has had some handy contributions for the team.”
