Wriddhiman Saha to not identify journalist who threatened him to BCCI

Wriddhiman Saha's controversy has caused ripples among the cricket community in the wake of his non-selection for Sri Lanka Tests. 

Saha's recent revelations have shocked the community, with cricketers coming to support him after he shared screenshots of texts he received from an alleged journalist who threatened Saha for an exclusive interview.

He had taken to Twitter and shared screenshots of the messages after he was dropped from India's Test squad for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka. Saha tweeted: "After all of my contributions to Indian cricket..this is what I face from a so called "Respected" journalist! This is where the journalism has gone."

Earlier on Monday, BCCI Treasurer Arun Dhumal told PTI that the board will ask Wriddhiman to reveal the identity of the reporter and the context in which those messages were sent. Wriddhiman Saha admitted in an interview with Indian Express that he would not disclose the journalist's identity.

Virender Sehwag was among the first to come out to support Saha, and former India coach Ravi Shastri too reacted to the controversy. 

"Shocking a player being threatened by a journo. Blatant position abuse. Something that's happening too frequently with #TeamIndia. Time for the BCCI PREZ to dive in. Find out who the person is in the interest of every cricketer. This is serious coming from ultimate team man WS," Shastri tweeted on Sunday night.

Former India cricketers Pragyan Ojha and Harbhajan Singh urged Saha to name the journalist in question. "Please name him wriddhi! I promise you as a representative of players, I will make sure our cricket community boycotts this so called journalist!!"

 

Saha, 37, lost his place to Rishabh Pant but was staying in the team as the second-choice gloveman. In the home series against New Zealand, Saha played two Tests, and after scoring a game-saving 61, in the second innings at Kanpur, he said that he received a Whatsapp message from Ganguly that had mentioned: As long as I'm here (helming the BCCI), you would be in the team'.

Upset with the BCCI's decision that the selection committee will not consider him for India's Test cricket squad, Saha, last week revealed a private conversation he had with Rahul Dravid in which he was advised to consider retirement.

India's squads for the Test and T20I series were announced on Saturday. Saha and veteran stars Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Ishant Sharma were all dropped in from the Test squad.