Wriddhiman Saha retires from all forms of cricket

Bengal stalwart Wriddhiman Saha retired from all forms of cricket after playing the last group-stage match of the Ranji Trophy on Saturday, February 1. Saha, one of India's best-ever wicketkeepers, penned an emotional note, thanking his family, the teams that he had played for, and the staff that helped him over the years.

Saha took to social media to pen a long message. Saha was grateful for his 28-year-long career and said that it was the greatest honour of his life to represent his country, state, district, clubs, university, college, and school. He had earlier announced his decision to call time on his career at the start of the ongoing season.

Saha played 40 Test matches for India and was widely regarded as the best keeper in the country in the red-ball format. His career never



took off due to his batting abilities, which were never at par with the likes of MS Dhoni, who saw an incredible rise in his stature at the same time. After Dhoni retired from Test cricket, Saha was able to fix his place in the lineup but for only a brief time as the selectors and management decided to fast-track Rishabh Pant.

Wriddhiman Saha's biggest moment perhaps came in the Indian Premier League when he hit a century in the IPL final against Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2014 season. Despite Saha's century, Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) were not able to win the tournament.

In his final years in the IPL, Saha played for Gujarat Titans, under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya and Shubman Gill. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 371 runs in the last full season that he played (2023).