Saha saga more than distasteful

We live in unique times And I am not referring to the pandemic alone Indiarsquos wicketkeeperbatsman Wriddhiman Saharsquos revelation that he was threatened over WhatsApp by an unnamed journalist smarting from not being granted an interview by him is straight out of Ripleyrsquos Believe It or Not Or probably akin to a master batsman intimidating a swift bowlerAll these years the media has been at the mercy of the players and the Board but here a BCCIcontracted player has been put in a position where he would be targeted for his decision not to grant the journalist an interviewThe journalist in question thought he could get away with blasting Saha who has been uncontroversial before the latest incident Maybe he didnrsquot consider the fact that he was dealing with an angry man of 37 who had just been told that he was not in the selectorsteam managementrsquos plans for the future although these are two different issuesHopefully the Saha saga wonrsquot lead to a situation where journalists will be kept further away from the playersOne has to feel for Saha On one hand he was told by chief coach Rahul Dravid in South Africa that he shouldnrsquot be surprised if he doesnrsquot get picked for the Test series against Sri Lanka because the team management and the selectors were looking to groom a ldquonew facerdquo On his return from South Africa chief selector Chetan Sharma wanted to know if he was playing the Ranji Trophy In the same conversation Saha was told that he wouldnrsquot be considered for India henceforthSharma in the virtual press conference after picking the side for the Sri Lanka series indicated how important it was to play domestic cricket He told the media ldquoI canrsquot tell you on what grounds he has been dropped Thatrsquos for selectors All I can tell you is that he was told before and asked to play the Ranji Trophy which is the ladder for the Indian team What we discussed between ourselves we canrsquot tell you Why he did not play Ranji the state association CAB Cricket Association of Bengal can tell you that That is not my jurisdiction As selectors we wanted them referring to Saha and Ishant Sharma to play We are not looking at agerdquoDravid did well to make Saha aware as to where he stood in the road ahead Generally selectors have such chats Here the chief coach got proactive The former India captain also displayed maturity and understanding when he told the media that he had no problem with Saha revealing a private conversation with himBe that as it may Saha would be justified in believing that he deserved better In 11 years he has figured in only 40 Tests Only when MS Dhoni was injured or banned for slow overrate as he was for the Adelaide Test of 201112 could Saha make the playing XINaman Ojha Parthiv Patel and Rishabh Pant have kept wickets for India too thereafter and Saha is no longer the first choice for the stumperrsquos job despite him being the best for that role which has in the last few decades extended to batting Who knows what the next trend will be Maybe a fast bowler will only be considered if he is not a dummy with the batIf the recent Mumbai Test against New Zealand ends up being Saharsquos last Test so be it He did the best he could with whatever opportunities he got ndash after alltime great Dhonirsquos fine Test stint and before Pant became a gamechanger Saha will have to take this probable international end on the chinMeanwhile cricket pundits the world over should stop taking themselves so seriously Gone are the days when they could make or break playersNo controversy is sweet but this is more than just distasteful The media game has changed Yet the journalistic fraternity and players have to coexistThe media donrsquot expect to be invited to visit dressing rooms after a dayrsquos play as it happened in another era but if both parties respect each otherrsquos needs that sphere will be a better placeDressing room visitshellipah that reminds of me of the great Australian cricket writer Ray Robinson Australiarsquos wicketkeeper Rod Marsh knew Robinson had an ulcer problem hence he couldnrsquot consume fresh beer He relished the prospect of Robinson coming over to the dressing room for a chat after play so Marsh used to open a couple of bottles a few hours before stumps to ensure the flat brew didnrsquot do damage to Robinsonrsquos healthSuch reverence for a journalist is rare and near impossible to see in this era But this is a true story and like the Saha saga it involves a wicketkeeper Therersquos something to be said here on the difference between journalists who are truly influential and ones who simply perceive themselves to be so But the less said on that subject the bettermiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper