Wriddhiman Saha back at India nets, on road to recovery
He was seen facing throwdowns as he resumed training after hurting both his hamstrings in the IPL
PTI
18-Nov-2020
File photo - Wriddhiman Saha took throwdowns in the nets • BCCI
India's Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha was back at the team's nets in Sydney on Wednesday. Saha showed signs of recovery from his hamstring injury with four weeks still left for the much-anticipated December 17-21 Test series opener against Australia in Adelaide.
Saha had injured both his hamstrings during a short but successful IPL campaign for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, in which he scored two match-winning half-centuries that took them to the playoffs.
Because of the injury, the 36-year-old wicketkeeper missed the eliminator as well as the second qualifier of the IPL.
On Wednesday, Saha was seen facing throwdowns at the nets from the Sri Lankan left-arm specialist Nuwan Seneviratne and Indian right-arm bowler Dayananda Garani for a considerable period of time.
Look who is batting in the nets today. Hello @Wriddhipops! #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/GEzLKcSdVF
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 18, 2020
He didn't keep wickets though and the extent of recovery couldn't be ascertained from the video uploaded by the BCCI media.
There wasn't any pronounced forward press or footwork involved while driving the half-volleys. However, Saha, who has so far played 37 Tests and scored 1238 runs, didn't look uncomfortable during his time at the nets. From the video it seemed that both the throwdown specialists didn't go full tilt at the batsman, who is trying to gradually get into the groove after the injury.
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had recently expressed confidence that Saha would be fully fit before the first Test with physio Nitin Patel and strength and conditioning coach Nick Webb working on his injury management.
During the last Test series in New Zealand, Saha was confined to the sidelines with Rishabh Pant getting an opportunity for his superior batting skills. However, this time Pant's patchy batting form in the IPL has not helped his cause. Pant was left out of the ODI and T20I squads - with Sanju Samson preferred over him - but was picked in the Test squad along with Saha.