While with the Indian team, during the Australia tour, Wridhhiman Saha got a valuable batting tip from Duncan Fletcher. The coach advised the wicket-keeper to open his stance a bit. The technique tweak didn’t show instant results as Saha finished the tour with an average of 18 from four innings.

But back home at Eden Garden, with Jammu and Kashmir as opposition, Saha was playing without international pressure and facing bowlers not in the same class as the Aussies. The drop in the degree of difficulty resulted in things falling in place for Saha. At stumps on Day One, he was batting on 129 (18×4, 1×6), looking impregnable during his 270-minute stay. He helped Bengal rebuild their innings. They would finish at 312/7, a happy situation for a team that had recovered after losing three quick wickets.

‘Lot more relaxed’

“The wide stance is helping me move my feet freely. The challenge now is to keep consistency,” said Saha, who had braved jet-lag to play this game. “Yes, I was a lot more relaxed here. In Australia, I batted under pressure, which might be a reason I couldn’t always play my natural game.”

Saha took guard with J&K pacer Ram Dayal bowling in fine rhythm. He had just cleaned up Abhimanyu Easwaran with a leg-cutter. At the other end, Parvez Rasool had dismissing Sudip Chatterjee with a ball that came into the left-hander and flattened the middle stump. Rasool, in fact, was on a hat-trick as he accounted for opener Arindam Das and Chatterjee in successive deliveries. Saha wasn’t bothered as he went on compile his 9th first-class hundred in 67 matches.

Without his ton, and his 144-run fifth wicket partnership with Laxmi Ratan Shukla (72), Bengal would have been deep trouble. J&K bowled well but the visitors failed to seize the moments. Far too many easy singles were conceded and this eased the pressure created by the bowlers.

Besides talking about his innings, Saha also spoke about the Australian tip that saw MS Dhoni’s sudden retirement from Tests, making him the team No.1 wicket-keeper. Saha said Dhoni never said spoke about quitting but he did drop a hint, telling him to be ready. The 30-year-old now has the job, but he knows only big runs can cement his place in the Test team.”Playing international cricket is always a big responsibility. People will breathe down your neck. You’ve to rise to the challenge,” said Saha

Brief scores: Bengal 312/7 in 90 overs (Wriddhiman Saha 129*, LR Shukla 72; Parvez Rasool 2/57) vs J&K.