India’s finest wicketkeeper now in race to become Bengal’s U-23 coach

Six months into his retirement from competitive cricket, one of India’s finest wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha is all ready to enter the coaching field- as Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) have shown their interest in hiring him as the head coach of the U-23 state team. Saha retired from first-class cricket in January this year following the end of Bengal’s league stage campaign in the Ranji Trophy.

“The CAB brass will be zeroing in on all the candidates for various teams by next week. Obviously, Wriddhi has been sounded out and a final decision will be taken next week. Apart from Sourav Ganguly and Pankaj Roy, he is the biggest name from Bengal with 40 Tests,” a senior CAB source told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

“His experience of playing top level cricket for so long will only help the Gen-Next of Bengal cricket. Wriddhi already runs a chain of coaching centres and he has been a very hands on coach for juniors. He is passionate about coaching. Hopefully, he will be ready,” the source said.

Though there is not a lot of priority in Bengal cricket regarding players being named in the coaching system immediately after retirement, Saha’s case is different as he has had a great stature in state cricket.

A lot of people in the Bengal circuit believe that Wriddhiman Saha is set to become a great coach. His experience with the U-23 squad might come in handy if he joins any Indian Premier League (IPL) team in near future, or even as a specialist coach at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.