Wriddhiman Saha back at India nets, on road to recovery

Veteran wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha was back at the Indian team nets here on Wednesday, showing signs of recovery from an injury with four weeks still left for the much-anticipated December 17-21 Test series opener against Australia in Adelaide.

Saha had pulled both his hamstrings during Sunrisers Hyderabad's IPL campaign in UAE, in which he scored two match-winning half-centuries.

Due to the injury, the 36-year-old missed the eliminator as well as the second qualifier of the Indian Premier League.

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On Wednesday, Saha was seen facing throwdowns in the nets for a considerable period of time.

He didn't keep wickets though and the extent of recovery couldn't be ascertained from the video uploaded by the BCCI media.

There wasn't any pronounced forward press or footwork involved while driving the half-volleys, which could be an indicator of how quickly his hamstring is healing.

However, the man who has so far played 37 Tests and scored 1238 runs, did not look uncomfortable while facing the throwdowns.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly recently expressed confidence that Saha would be fully fit before the first Test with both Nitin Patel and Nick Webb working on his injury management.

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During the last Test series in New Zealand, Saha was confined to the sidelines with Rishabh Pant getting an opportunity for his superior batting skills.

However, this time around Pant's dreadful batting form in the IPL has not helped his cause.  In case Saha fully recovers, he will be the favourite to feature in the four-match Test series.