Wriddhiman Prashanta Saha is an Indian cricketer from West Bengal, widely regarded as one of the finest wicket-keepers produced by India in the post-Mahendra Singh Dhoni era. A right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler, he has played Test cricket, One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals for India, and has been a long-serving figure in domestic and franchise cricket.
| Full name | Wriddhiman Prashanta Saha |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | 24 October 1984 |
| Place of birth | Siliguri, West Bengal, India |
| Nickname | Wriddhi, Papali |
| Batting style | Right-handed |
| Bowling style | Right-arm medium |
| Role | Wicket-keeper batsman |
| Domestic team | Bengal, later Tripura |
| Test debut | 2010, against South Africa at Nagpur |
| ODI debut | 2010, against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo |
| IPL franchises | Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings, Punjab Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Gujarat Titans |
Saha was born in Siliguri in northern West Bengal. His father, Prashanta Saha, worked at the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad, and Wriddhiman took to cricket as a child despite the lack of structured coaching infrastructure in the region during the 1990s. He moved to Kolkata to pursue a serious cricketing career and trained at clubs in the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) circuit, eventually breaking into the Bengal senior side.
Saha made his first-class debut for Bengal in the 2007–08 Ranji Trophy season. He scored a century on debut, signalling his arrival as a wicket-keeper batsman of substance. He went on to become a mainstay of the Bengal side for over a decade, leading the team in the Ranji Trophy and being part of the unit that reached the final in 2019–20.
Following a much-publicised disagreement with the CAB ahead of the 2022–23 season, Saha was granted a no-objection certificate and shifted to Tripura, where he has continued to play domestic cricket while also serving as a senior presence in the side.
Saha made his Test debut in February 2010 against South Africa at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur, coming in primarily as a specialist batsman with Mahendra Singh Dhoni keeping wickets. After Dhoni's Test retirement in late 2014, Saha emerged as the first-choice wicket-keeper in the longer format under captain Virat Kohli.
He is known for his exceptional glove work, particularly to spin bowling, and has been praised by teammates and former players as among the best pure wicket-keepers India has fielded. With the bat, his most celebrated innings include a century against the West Indies in St. Lucia in 2016 and a match-defining hundred against Australia at Ranchi in 2017 during the Border–Gavaskar Trophy.
His Test career was interrupted on multiple occasions by injuries and by the gradual selectorial preference for batter-keepers such as Rishabh Pant. Saha was eventually phased out of the national side in 2022.
Saha has been a long-serving figure in the Indian Premier League since the inaugural 2008 edition. He played for Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab (later Punjab Kings) before joining Sunrisers Hyderabad. He scored a century for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2014 IPL final against Kolkata Knight Riders in Bengaluru, becoming the first Indian to score a hundred in an IPL final, although his side ended on the losing side.
He later represented Gujarat Titans, where he was an opening batsman in the team's title-winning campaign in 2022 and a key contributor in subsequent seasons.
Saha is regarded primarily for his wicket-keeping technique, particularly his agility, low stance, and ability to keep cleanly to spinners on turning Indian pitches. As a batsman, he is technically organised, comfortable against pace and spin, and capable of both attacking strokeplay in limited-overs cricket and patient accumulation in the longer format. His role in IPL teams has often shifted to that of an opening batsman, where his orthodox technique offers stability at the top.
Saha represents a generation of Indian wicket-keepers who emphasised craft and specialisation. Within the broader context of Indian Test cricket, he is often cited as a transitional figure between the Dhoni era and the rise of more aggressive batter-keepers. He is also a notable example of a cricketer from northern Bengal succeeding at the highest level, in a sport historically dominated by metropolitan centres.
Saha is married to Romi Mitra, and the couple have two children. He has been involved in promotional activities for cricket development in Siliguri and northern West Bengal.