Who after Saha as India's Test wicketkeeper?

In the not so distant future, India might face an issue: if Wriddhiman Saha, their specialist wicketkeeper in Tests, does not succeed or gets injured, who is the best replacement for him?

KL Rahul doubling up as a wicketkeeper-batsman in the IPL has helped him jump a few places in the queue, which is led by Naman Ojha and includes Dinesh Karthik, Sanju Samson, and Rishabh Pant. For now Saha, a specialist wicketkeeper, remains India's first choice, as Kohli had made clear ahead of the side's departure for the Caribbean.

"Obviously, whenever Rahul played, he has played as an opener or as a back-up option for the opening slot. I think it is up to the team management to take a call on the batting combination, but as far as wicketkeeping goes, Saha, being a specialist keeper is always the first choice," Kohli had said in Bangalore earlier this month. "Saha's batting has also improved a lot in the last few months and we can bank on him as he is a quality glovesman who can grab those half chances."

Former Bengal and India wicketkeeper-batsman, Deep Dasgupta firmly backed a specialist wicketkeeper like Saha over part-time options. "Especially when you are talking about Test match cricket, I'd always say a specialist is better," Dasgupta told ESPNcricinfo.

Mental strength is crucial to succeed in the longest format, according to Dasgupta, who had also opened the batting for India in Test cricket. "T20 and one-day cricket is different, but in Test cricket, the mindset and the way you think about the game is completely different," he said. "If you're looking at somebody to be a top-order batsman and keep wickets, the physical training is different. There will be matches where you need to be on the ground for four days, either keeping wickets or batting.

"The other important issue is whether your keeping will affect your batting or your batting will affect your keeping. If it's somebody who has grown up as a wicketkeeper-batsman, he knows how to handle it. But for someone who is going to start keeping now, you don't know, and God forbid if the keeping affects batting, you lose the player as a keeper and a batsman. That's the last thing you want, so it's a very tentative call."

With India set to play 13 Tests at home in the upcoming season, Saha's skills especially on turning pitches will be tested. Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Kiran More also said that a specialist keeper was the key.

"All wicketkeepers bat well now. You look at Parthiv [Patel] or Naman Ojha or Wriddhiman Saha, they all bat well, they've all got fantastic domestic records and scored loads of hundreds, so I think there is no doubt about their batting credentials," More said. "But when you play on such types of wickets, you need to have better wicketkeepers all the time. Why did India win the World Cup? I think it's because we had a player who could bat at No. 6 or 7 and was a wicketkeeper. When you look at the teams that have won World Cups, they always had a better wicketkeeper-batsman, be it Adam Gilchrist or MS Dhoni. That's why these countries have done well. "

While Saha's glovework is tidy, India may still face a problem because his batting stats have been underwhelming, despite Kohli's assessment of his improved skills. In 19 Test innings, Saha has two half-centuries and averages only 21.58, as opposed to his first-class average of 42.60. Saha isn't at the same level as Dhoni - who averaged 38.09 - as a batsman and if India play five bowlers, as Kohli has preferred to do, they could have a long tail.

Saha may not be technically correct, Dasgupta, formerly Saha's senior in the Bengal side and chairman of the state selection panel, said, but he was effective.

"I've known Saha since he started playing first-class cricket, or even before that, when he was playing under-22 for Bengal," Dasgupta said. "He is not a very orthodox batsman, but he is very effective. His numbers in first-class cricket - he averages over 40 - are as good as any batsman around. I still remember a couple of fifties he got in Sri Lanka which were very, very crucial. He might not score 10 out of 10 in terms of beauty, but he is quite effective with the bat. I think he is good enough; you just need to keep faith in him. Knowing Wriddhiman, I know why Virat Kohli is showing that much faith in him."

According to Dasgupta, whether it is Saha or Ojha or Rahul, the wicketkeeper needed to be given a long run in the Test side. "We have to be very conscious in what we want in the future. I wouldn't look at part-time keepers. I wouldn't mind if someone like KL Rahul opts to be a keeper, but I don't like the tag part-time. The keepers we have in the country are all good batsmen, be it Naman or Wriddhiman. They all have very, very impressive batting numbers. So all I would like to see is these guys being given enough opportunities to figure out where they stand. It's a little unfair to say Naman isn't good enough when you have already given him one opportunity and he has done decently well. We have enough talent in the country to not look at part-time options."

Saha, Ojha and Karthik are older than 30, but Dasgupta said fitness should be the priority, rather than age. "Someone like a Naman or a DK [Dinesh Karthik], for that matter, who is in his early 30s, in this day and age, your age is just a number. It's about how fit you are and whether you are performing or not. And if these guys who are in their 30s are still fit enough to keep wickets and bat in Test match cricket, why not, even if it's just for two or three years. If it's a 50-over team, you have the Champions Trophy coming up next season, or if it's 20-over cricket, you are looking at the World Cup. But in Test cricket, there's no big tournament. You're looking at the next series. So I don't understand building a team for the future as far as Test cricket is concerned."