Pant vs Saha who is the preferred keeper? This is a topic that a lot of fans are debating about. Probably, this debate will go on forever until Saha retires. Both the players have their own merits and demerits to be in the team. One is quite aggressive whereas the other is somewhat circumspect. Let us examine through statistics and through the impact both the keepers have created to arrive at a conclusion. This comparison is only for Test Cricket and not for the short formats because Saha has hardly played ODIs for a fair comparison.
Saha Statistics
Saha made his debut in Nagpur against South Africa in 2010. The South Africans were at the absolute best during that period. They were the undisputed No. 1 in the world. In Dale Steyn they had a premier fast bowler who comfortably slots in among the league of greatest fast bowlers ever to have played the game. It was a game the Indians will do well to forget. South Africa amassed over 500 hundred runs and in response, India, with couple of hundreds over two innings folded up meekly. Steyn was at his devastating best. Saha, in such a tough introduction to Test Cricket, did no harm to himself with a decent enough 30odd in the second innings and kept admirably well throughout the game.
Saha is averaging just over 30 with three hundreds in 50 innings. An average of 30 for a keeper is not so bad but in the post Gilchrist world, a keeper is expected to have a healthy average to go with competent wicket keeping. Except for West Indies and Sri Lanka, Saha’s average is nothing to write about in Australia, England or even in India.
Saha’s best performances
In the West Indies, I played a very good innings of 104 when India were in a spot of bother having lost 5 wickets for 126. Saha alongwith Ashwin took the team to a respectable total from where the Indian team were able to dictate the game. In a way, Saha did play a match winning innings. His couple of other noteworthy performances came against Australia at home. In the second test in Bangalore, Saha score a vital 20 with only the tail to support and added a vital 30 runs with the tail. In the ultimate analysis, this proved a vital innings when Australia had to chase just over 185.
His best performance came in the very next test. Saha scored a brilliant hundred to enable the team gain a lead of over 150 runs.
Saha’s real impact
However, when it comes to Saha, it is not the runs that he scores but it is the manner of his keeping that adds lot of value to the team. He goes for catches down the legside or offside that other keepers, atleast the ones before in the Indian team will think twice before diving. The confidence that gives the bowlers, especially, the spinners on any kind of wicket, be it spinning, bouncy or plain flat wicket, is what enables the bowlers to bowl flat out.
With much delight, if I can think about the catch that Saha took to dismiss Peter Handscomb when he threatened to carry Australia all the way, will always remain a beautiful memory. I was there in the stadium to witness that stunning catch. More recently, during the World Test Championship, against South Africa and Bangladesh, Saha was thought to be the unofficial player of the series.
Pant’s top performances
As for Rishabh Pant, the sample is extremely limited. He has only played 13 tests albeit evenly spread across multiple continents. Having said that, he has played a couple of extraordinary innings. It includes the first ever hundred by an Indian keeper in Australia. There was one other hundred in England but it came at a time when the series was lost and the test itself was lost. He proved that he can stand upright against when he scored a pair of 30s in Perth that the team lost.
Pant’s loss of confidence
Despite the good performances from time to time, Pant’s failures are frequent which is accentuated by his failures in ODIs and T20s. Ofcourse the team management will also have to share the fault for Pant’s failure not least the fact that he was considered as the No. 4 batsman that too in the World Cup. Pant definitely is not No. 4 at the international level in any format. It probably dented his confidence that eventually led to his multiple failures.
Pant’s achilles heel
The one area where Pant will have to improve his skill is undoubtedly keeping. In a stark contrast to Saha, the bowlers can never trust the keeper behind the stump. This severely affects the confidence of the bowlers because they realise that there is not a reliable hand behind the wicket. It will have a huge impact on the bowlers at a subconscious level. It is impossible to forget the pressure Pant was under a year back because of his keeping or lack of it.
Pant is young. He still has lots of time to improve his keeping drastically. Coupled with his audacious batting, he can be an asset along the lines of the great Adam Gilchrist. However, that is sometime away.
Conclusion
Having said all of the above, Pant because of his destructive batting will be the keeper in Australia and South Africa where the chances of the ball swinging or the ball turning is less exaggerated than in the rest of the nations. Everywhere else, Saha will be the keeper. As for the upcoming tour, Pant must be the first choice keeper.
Whom among Pant & Saha will make a better keeper? Is there anyone else who will be much better than either of them? Leave your comments.