I don’t look at Rishabh Pant as my competition, claims Wriddhiman Saha

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BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Wriddhiman Saha has claimed that there is no animosity between him and India teammate Rishabh Pant after the former made his return to competitive cricket after a long injury lay-off. Saha underwent shoulder surgery in Manchester last August and was undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA in Bangalore.

Wriddhiman Saha was widely regarded as India’s first choice keeper in the Test format after the World Cup-winning captain, MS Dhoni, retired from the longer format of the game. However, a serious shoulder injury ruled the Bengal-born cricketer out of the game from a long time. But Saha is set to make his return to action for Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy which is scheduled to start on February 21. 

“It definitely feels great to back in the mix after an injury layoff. Firstly for a sportsperson, there is nothing like the feeling of returning to the game and I don’t feel like I’ve been away for too long, rather just a couple of weeks or so, like a short break. Right now my focus is solely on helping Bengal do well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy,” Saha told CricketNext in a recent interview.

In Saha’s absence, Delhi youngster Rishabh Pant has impressed with the bat across all three formats of cricket in the last year. Arguably, Pant has overtaken Dinesh Karthik’s position as second choice wicket-keeper cum batsman behind CSK captain - MS Dhoni. However, 34-year old Saha revealed that he does not view the 21-year old lad from Rourkee as competition and enjoys a cordial relationship with his India teammate.

“Rishabh got his chance when I was out and just like anyone would look to grab their chance with both hands he did the same. I don’t look at him as my competition, in fact when he came to the NCA we spent a lot of time together which was nice. We hardly spoke about performances and selection," Saha added.

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