Gujarat Titans’ mentor Gary Kristen on Sunday praised Wriddhiman Saha, saying the wicket-keeper batter understands his game well and is “great” against the short-ball while Gujarat Titans have qualified for the play-offs.
Gujarat Titans’ mentor Gary Kristen on Sunday praised Wriddhiman Saha, saying the wicket-keeper batter understands his game well and is “great” against the short-ball. Saha played an outstanding inning of 67 runs against Chennai Super Kings and GT defeat the CSK by seven wickets to qualify for the play-offs.
“We have been very impressed (with Saha). It is great to have him (Saha) on the team. He is a real professional. And he has got good experience in the IPL and all (forms) of cricket,”
Kirsten said at the virtual-post-match press conference.
On Sunday too, Saha once again went hammer and tongs in the power-play, astonishing seven boundaries and a six.
“He (Saha) understands his game and plays well in the powerplay. For us, he was always an important asset to have when we needed him and he has come in and done well,”
said the South African, who has also coached India in the past.
“….I don’t think there is any specific (thing) that we need to say to him because he knows how to play the powerplay well. The most important thing is guys play to their strengths and abilities. He is a great player of the short ball.”
The Proteas feels head coach Ashish Nehra has done a great job in putting up a really strong bowling attack.
Kristen further highlighted that pacer Yash Dayal must have gained a lot of confidence by conceding only eight runs in the penultimate over.
“Yash Dayal is an incredibly talented young player, to have a left-arm in your bowling (who) can bowl across all the 20 overs is important. So this is a great opportunity for us to use him in the 19th over and he bowled a great over, went for eight runs and that is real confidence for him,”
he signed off.
“I have been playing for so long. But this setup takes care of the group. I didn’t play the initial games but executed my plans when I got a chance. We were not chasing a big target. So I took my chances in the powerplay and then there was no need to take chances as the required rate was under six. We saw when we were bowling that the oddball stopped. So I thought of taking my chances initially before taking it easy. My role in the team is to play my natural game in the first six overs. After that, my strengths are to be backed, be it playing the sweep or charging down,”
says Wriddhimania Saha.