Wriddhiman Saha was mentally strong since the age of 13, says childhood coach

Kolkata, Feb 14: Wriddhiman Saha's childhood coach Jayanta Bhowmick has never seen his student's batting for it is his prejudice.

He doesn't even watches Wriddhiman bat from beginning till the end on television.

Breaking his long time prejudice to watch his student's full batting, Bhowmick sat in front of television during recently concluded India-Bangladesh Test match in Hyderabad.

Speaking on his best student's rise to the fame, Bhowmick hailed Wriddhiman's mental strength since his childhood.

Bhowmick spoke over phone from Siliguri, “Papali (Wriddhiman's nickname) used to live in a place named Shaktigarh. That was quite far from our coaching camp. But he never dropped practicing. Even amidst heavy showers, he used to come for practice riding his cycle. His parents often used to get anxious as their son was riding bicycle in the heavy downpour."

Wriddhiman struck his century against Bangladesh hitting a flawless six. Bhowmick revealed, “It was his character from childhood. I also used to encourage him to do that. I can remember one match where our coaching camp needed six runs in the last delivery in a local match in Siliguri. He was only 13-years-old at that time. He fell down on the pitch while trying to hit in the last delivery as we required a six to win the match. We lost the match but Papali was appreciated for his daring attempt to hit the six."

Wriddhiman's father Prasanta Saha was also a regular player. He was goalkeeper and used to play cricket for some years in Siliguri too.

Bhowmick remarked, “Prasanta Saha was truly a quality goalkeeper. He even got a call from Aryan Club, but did not leave Siliguri. His goalkeeping was the source of Wriddhiman's passion on wicketkeeping. I can still remember an incident, when one day Wriddhiman had to face a nasty delivery while practising at the camp and he cut his lips in a severe manner. He had to undergo four stitches on the same evening. On the very next day morning, I found Wriddhiman sitting on the chair at my camp! He was only 14 then."

OneIndia News