India vs South Africa: Wriddhiman Saha sustains injury on left thumb, Rishabh Pant keeps wickets in final hour

Ranchi: India’s first-choice Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha suffered an injury on his left thumb during the South African second innings as Rishabh Pant kept wickets in the final hour on day three of the final Test match. [caption id=“attachment_7266041” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Wriddhiman Saha. AFP[/caption] The 35-year-old Saha, who was phenomenal behind the stumps in the second Test in Pune, was hurt in the 27th over, while keeping to off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. The latest injury adds to the long list of on-field setbacks that the Bengal stumper had suffered in his career including a career-threatening shoulder injury for which he had to undergo surgery which forced him out of national team for 20 months. It was George Linde who tried to play a cut but missed and Saha got hit on his left-thumb, which prompted physio Nitin Patel to escort him back to the dressing room. For the remainder of the third day, Pant kept wickets and become the second “substitute wicketkeeper” for India after the ICC rules came into effect in late 2017. The first substitute keeper for India was Dinesh Karthik, who replaced Parthiv Patel in the final Test against South Africa in Johannesburg in January, 2018. Click here to listen to Episode 3 of Yorked, where we discuss India’s dominance in recent years with senior journalists Ayaz Memon and Gaurav Kalra.