He has had a poor run of form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) since his century in the 2014 final (against the Kolkata Knight Riders) but Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha feels that team mentor Virender Sehwag has helped him improve his batting.
“Viru bhai (Sehwag)’s role as a mentor of Kings XI Punjab has really helped me as I have learnt a lot about batting in various conditions. It’s not any specific tips but when you interact with a legend on a day to day basis, you pick up a lot. It did help me as I have again found some form going my way,” said Saha.
It took Saha 19 innings since the 2014 final to get another 50-plus score, which he scored against Delhi Daredevils.
“Viru bhai tells me that rotating the strike should always be an integral part of my batting. Whenever I get stuck up, I should try and rotate the strike more. There was a phase where I batted in different positions. Also there were times when my shot selection was not wrong but execution went awry,” said Wriddhiman.
A reticent man, he is not bothered about the growing trend of batsmen keeping wickets, like K. L. Rahul, Robin Uthappa.
“I really don’t look at what others are doing. In fact I don’t need to. Yes, if Robin or K. L. is keeping wickets, it means their respective teams feel that they can add value with this aspect of their game. I may just catch it on TV if I want to see them keep but I will not sit back and analyse on the basis of that. I will do what I feel is best for me. I don’t like to clutter my thoughts with lot of complications and would like to keep it like that,” he said.
Asked if he is okay being dubbed as ‘Test specialist’, Wriddhiman replied: “As of now, my focus is to help KXIP fight for a qualification berth and would like to give my all for that. Test series and all that I will think once IPL gets over.”
He also praised Mohit Sharma and Sandeep Sharma for their brilliant bowling at the death against DD the other night.
“They have been fantastic and it was one of the best spells at the death that I have witnessed in the IPL. Both Mohit and Sandeep have been phenomenal for us in the death overs. I would also like to say that Vijay has been leading the side very well. As a keeper, I love the kind of field placements that he has been deploying as well as the bowling changes that he has effected,” said Wriddhiman.
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