Wriddhiman Saha shouldn't have gone public with private chats: Sourav Ganguly's brother

Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) secretary and brother to Sourav Ganguly, Snehashish Ganguly on Monday opined that Wriddhiman Saha shouldn't have publicly spoken about the private conversation between him and the BCCI president/ selectors. 

Snehashish went on to add that Saha is always welcomed to join the squad when he likes and that he shouldn't have opted out of playing Ranji “This is my personal opinion, but what was communicated to him (Saha) by the chief selector/BCCI was private. He probably shouldn’t have gone public with that. Also, he could have played the Ranji Trophy. He cited personal reasons for pulling out and we have to respect that. The door is always open for him, whenever he wants to join the squad,” Snehasish told reporters during an interaction.

Saha recalls WhatsApp chat with Sourav Ganguly after Test snub

Earlier, after the snub from the Test squad and on being informed he's no longer in contention of a national team spot, Saha recalled how he had received a WhatsApp message from the Sourav Ganguly following his game-saving 61 not out in the first Test against New Zealand at Kanpur in November last year wherein Ganguly assured Saha a place in the team until he was at the helm of affairs for the BCCI.

“After scoring 61 against New Zealand at Kanpur, Dada (Sourav Ganguly) congratulated me over WhatsApp and mentioned, ‘As long as I’m here (helming the BCCI), you would be in the team’. Such a message from the BCCI president really boosted my confidence. What I’m struggling to understand is how things have changed so fast,” the wicketkeeper-batter said.

Wriddhiman Saha says Chetan Sharma's presser contradicts conversation between them

Wriddhiman Saha also mentioned Chetan Sharma's presser and stated that while the selector said "age isn't something" they look into he had informed Saha that the team in thinking long-term and wanted to groom a youngster and thus he wasn't going to play "What Chetan Sharma said at the press conference today was totally different to what we had conversed. He had called me and asked if I was playing the Ranji Trophy. That was the first week of February and I told him that the Ranji Trophy was still some time away. He said, ‘OK’. Then, he told me that he wanted to convey something, that the selection committee was planning to try a new face, thinking long-term. That I wasn’t playing and was in the team as a second wicketkeeper and the selection committee wanted to try a newcomer and groom him. He told me I wouldn’t be in the team for the Sri Lanka series.” he added.

Image: PTI