IPL 2017 | Wriddhiman Saha : Virender Sehwag’s inputs helped me grow as a player

04/05/2017

Wriddhiman Saha is understandably high on confidence following his good performances in the India-Australia series. The wicketkeeper is now gearing up for the IPL season with Kings XI Punjab and has claimed that he is expecting to perform better thanks to the “priceless inputs” of Virender Sehwag.

“I am hopeful that with Viru bhai’s inputs, I will have a much better season than the last time. He has obviously helped me a lot from the time I entered the Indian team’s dressing room. I have tried to inculcate the positive intent while batting across formats,” Saha told Hindustan Times.

Given that Saha is coming off the back of scoring 441 runs at an average of over 44 this Test home season, the 32-year-old said that he was confident about carrying his form into the IPL as well. Saha added that the only specific advice Sehwag has given Saha, ahead of the season, is to rotate the strike and back himself while going for the big shots.

“Viru bhai tells me that my job is to rotate the strike. His primary advice has always been that avoid playing dot balls after big shots as it breaks the momentum in T20s. He tells me that if I have the belief, I should be able to hit good balls for big shots,” Saha added.

“Obviously if you have done well at the Test arena against quality oppositions, you want to carry that confidence into the T20 mold as well. But, at the end of the day, it’s about performing out there in the middle.”

KingsXI, who finished last season rooted to the bottom with just 8 points on the board, were dealt a blow with Murali Vijay being ruled out of the campaign due to injury. Saha, however, said that the team would have to see past the injury to Vijay and it was the collective responsibility of the side to produce good performances in the season.

“We can’t just fret over Vijay’s absence. Each player has to pull in and do their bit. It’s a collective responsibility to ensure that Kings XI Punjab are the title contenders this time around,” Saha said.

“Like, we have a very good team on paper I believe. We have bowlers like T Natarajan, who have done well and earned a call-up. But talent needs to be transformed into performance and I am confident that will happen.”

Last season, Punjab handed the captaincy to David Miller at the start of the season but, he was relieved of his duties and the role was given to Vijay. This season, however, they have again decided to go a different way with Aussie Glenn Maxwell taking the reigns of the team. The 32-year old said that he was ready to back the new skipper adding that the Aussie's experience will come in handy throughout the tournament.

“Maxwell is a guy who if need be will hit the first ball for a six. He has that self-belief as a player. Now coming to the issue of captaincy, I will be playing under him for the first time. So it will take a match or two to figure out what exactly he wants from me. Whatever he wants, I will try to deliver that,” Saha added.

IPL 2017 | Wriddhiman Saha : Virender Sehwag’s inputs helped me grow as a player

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