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Wriddhiman Saha is our No. 1 choice, will return to India's Test squad: MSK Prasad

While Parthiv had a good comeback in Tests with two half-centuries followed by Ranji Trophy winning hundred against Mumbai, Wriddhiman played one of the best knocks in Irani Trophy history.

By PTI

Mumbai, Jan 24: Chairman of selectors MSK Prasad on Tuesday (January 24) indicated that Wriddhiman Saha will regain his rightful place in the Indian Test for upcoming matches as he was out owing to injury and the Irani Cup game was "not his trial" but a case of testing his fitness.

Ind-Eng series schedule; Photos; Ind-Aus series schedule

"We had made it clear that someone who is coming back from injury, had to play in a domestic game and this was the best opportunity. Right now Saha and Parthiv are the best Nos 1 and 2 that we have. It was only to test fitness that we had Saha play here."

Wriddhiman Saha is our No. 1 choice, will return to India's Test squad: MSK Prasad

While Parthiv had a good comeback in Tests with two half-centuries followed by Ranji Trophy winning hundred against Mumbai, Wriddhiman played one of the best knocks in Irani Trophy history as his 203 not out enabled the Rest of India to chase down a near 400-run total on Tuesday.

"Personally, I can say that Wriddiman Saha was out of the team because of injury and not because he was out of form. He was 'Man of the Match' in the Kolkata Test against New Zealand and got a hundred in West Indies," said Prasad.

(Irani Cup: Saha becomes first batsman to slam double ton in fourth innings)

"I am happy how Parthiv has responded to the call-up. He is a fighter to the core. He single-handedly brought Gujarat from nowhere to being the Ranji Champions. He is in our scheme of things. There is just a minor difference between the two. When it comes to Test cricket, it is always the man who keeps better who gets the nod," Prasad gave ample hint about what the selectors' decision will be.

Prasad felt the glove work of Parthiv has also improved considerably but Wriddhiman still has better hands.

Parthiv Patel

"Parthiv's glovework has definitely improved. But Saha has got better hands and that's where he scores little more points than Parthiv. With today's batting, Saha showed why he is the number one keeper-batsman in the country. When he came out to bat yesterday the team was struggling at 63-4, and to take the game away from Gujarat, is phenomenal. So it's a healthy competition between the two."

"There are no two ways about ability. The day he is fit, his abilities are there. Look how he played under pressure during the second ODI. The most important is country's interest. Heading towards a big event (Champions Trophy in June in England), you need a middle order which can finish off the game. The team that can gives the best possible result for the country is of paramount importance," Prasad said.

"As far as Pandey and Rayudu are concerned they will have to wait for their opportunities. See Karun Nair got it and he maximised it three folds (triple ton in the fifth and final Test against England at Chennai). End of the day, a healthy bench strength augurs well for Indian cricket," he added.

Rohit Sharma

On the opening slot, Prasad was confident that things would fall in place once Rohit Sharma regains his place after recovering from his injury and moreover for others there's IPL and the domestic T20 games to get into form.

"As far as the opening slots are concerned, we all know that Rohit is injured and its just a matter of time before he comes back. I know it would have helped the rest to get some runs under the belt but I am not overtly worried because we have domestic limited over cricket and then the big event like IPL coming.

"So all the boys will have minimum 15-16 matches before they head to the Champions Trophy. These openers will get a chance to open for state and the franchisee and will definitely come back strong."

On the decision to rest main Test spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja from the T20 series against England, Prasad reasoned that with no big T20 event coming up, this was the best thing to do.

"We have nothing big coming up in T20 and that why we decided to rest Ashwin and Jadeja."

Praising Jadhav for the two gems he has played in the ODI series, Prasad said he had seen him enjoy playing the finisher's role.

Kedar Jadhav

"Kedar Jadhav is a little dynamite. I saw him play a Ranji game at Lahli, Andhra vs Maharashtra (2014-15 Quarters). It was a seaming track and they were some for 40-6 and this guy scored some 80-odd and won the game for Maharashtra.

"Somehow, like Virat (Kohli), he enjoys chasing and enjoys finisher's role. During one of the recent India A tours to Australia he played that role. Even in Zimbabwe he did well and I'm happy for him."

Parvez Rasool has replaced Ashwin in the T20 team and Prasad hailed the Jammu and Kashmir player and compared him with Jayant Yadav, who played a significant role in the Test series win over England.

"Rasool has been superb in the shorter form of the game as you can see from his stats. He is actually a good all-rounder just like Jayant Yadav."

PTI

Story first published: Thursday, August 3, 2017, 7:42 [IST]
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