Siliguri link in Knights’ win- Eyes on the ball
Posted by barunroy on April 21, 2008
Siliguri, April 20: Siliguri boy Wriddhiman Saha justified his elevation to one of the King’s Men as Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders won a thrilling Twenty20 match at Eden Gardens today, notching up their second consecutive victory in the Indian Premier League. [Inset: The Sahas watch Kolkata Knight Riders’ match on TV. Picture by Kundan Yolmo]
After a quiet game in Bangalore, Saha sparkled with the ’keeper’s gloves in front of a packed Eden crowd, while his family in Siliguri sat glued to the TV. First Saha ran to take a tumbling catch at silly mid-on and dismiss Deccan Chargers’ Rohit Sharma. Later, he acrobatically deflected the ball on to the stumps following a wide throw from Mohammad Hafeez to run out Pragyan Ojha. In between, he also held an edge off Sanjay Bangar’s bat.
But for these moments of brilliance, the Knight Riders might have lost the match.
Saha’s father, who works in the West Bengal State Electricity Transmission Company Ltd, said the 22-year-old was getting closer to his “master’s degree”.
“He left studies after HS,” Prashanta Saha said. “We supported his decision and said it would be like becoming a graduate if he played for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy, which he did. Getting a master’s degree is playing for the country. If he goes on like this, someday he will represent the country in international tournaments. We are very proud of him.”
“The catch (off Sharma) was a very difficult one and could be called the turning point of the match because Rohit is in tremendous form right now,” said Jayanta Bhowmick, Saha’s coach at Agragami Cricket Coaching Centre here.
“I have been coaching him since he was 13 and although he is travelling around a lot these days, we are in close touch,” the coach added. “It makes me proud to see him play in the IPL. It should be a matter of pride for the whole of Siliguri.”
Another of Bhowmick’s trainees, batsman Debabrata Das, has also been picked in the Kolkata Knight Rider’s squad, although he is yet to get a game. [The Telegraph | Anuradha Sharma]
