IPL playerIndia2008 to 2024
Wriddhiman Saha
On scorecards: WP Saha · Right-hand bat
Wriddhiman Saha, a wicketkeeper-batter, played seventeen IPL seasons for five franchises. Two titles came along the way.
The arrival
Wriddhiman Saha was there from the start, in the league's first season, 2008, signed by Kolkata Knight Riders outside the auction.
That first season brought 12 matches and 159 runs.
The peak
The high point with the bat was 2023, for Gujarat Titans: 371 runs at an average of 23.2, striking at 129.3 in a season when the league as a whole struck at 141.9, with 2 fifties, and a highest score of 81.
Measured against the league around it, though, the most destructive season was 2014: 362 runs at a strike rate of 145.4, 16 runs per hundred balls quicker than the IPL as a whole that year.
Franchise by franchise
2008 to 2010, Kolkata Knight Riders. 33 matches and 298 runs.
2011 to 2013, Chennai Super Kings. Bought at the 2011 auction for ₹45 lakh. 13 matches and 144 runs; champions in 2011.
2014 to 2017, Kings XI Punjab. Bought at the 2014 auction for ₹2.20 cr. 57 matches and 1,115 runs.
2018 to 2021, Sunrisers Hyderabad. Bought at the 2018 auction for ₹5 cr. 29 matches and 553 runs.
2022 to 2024, Gujarat Titans. Bought at the 2022 auction for ₹1.90 cr. 37 matches and 824 runs; champions in 2022.
5 spells with five franchises in all. The longest was with Kings XI Punjab, 2014 to 2017.
How the runs came
Across the career, Wriddhiman Saha struck at 127.6. The league around those same seasons, weighted by how much batting each one involved, struck at 133.0, so Wriddhiman Saha scored about 5 runs per hundred balls slower than the typical batter of the time, a trade usually made for longer innings. 58% of the runs came in fours and sixes: 296 fours and 87 sixes.
The ball-by-ball record adds the detail. 37.6% of the balls Wriddhiman Saha faced were dot balls, a higher share than 68% of the 140 batters who have faced 500 balls or more in the IPL. A six came every 26.4 balls, and a four every 7.8.
The fielding record: 93 catches, 20 run-outs and 26 stumpings, the stumpings a reminder of the gloves.
At the auction
Wriddhiman Saha went under the hammer five times. The highest price was ₹5 cr, paid by Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018, more than 5 times the base price. The price climbed with the reputation: ₹45 lakh in 2011, ₹1.90 cr by 2022.
Seasons without an auction entry were played under a retention, a trade or a signing made outside the auction.
The legacy
On the all-time IPL lists, among 810 players, Wriddhiman Saha finished 24th for matches played.
Season by season
| Season | Team | M | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 50/100 | Wkts | Econ | Best | Ct | POTM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 12 | 159 | 59* | 31.8 | 133.6 | 1/0 | – | – | – | 10 | ||
| 2009 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 8 | 72 | 25* | 24.0 | 175.6 | 0/0 | – | – | – | 2 | ||
| 2010 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 13 | 67 | 22 | 22.3 | 126.4 | 0/0 | – | – | – | 6 | ||
| 2011 | Chennai Super Kings | 7 | 68 | 46* | 68.0 | 107.9 | 0/0 | – | – | – | 2 | 1 | Champions |
| 2012 | Chennai Super Kings | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6.0 | 42.9 | 0/0 | – | – | – | 1 | ||
| 2013 | Chennai Super Kings | 3 | 70 | 39 | 23.3 | 125.0 | 0/0 | – | – | – | 0 | ||
| 2014 | Kings XI Punjab | 17 | 362 | 115* | 32.9 | 145.4 | 2/1 | – | – | – | 12 | 1 | |
| 2015 | Kings XI Punjab | 14 | 249 | 42 | 19.2 | 126.4 | 0/0 | – | – | – | 14 | ||
| 2016 | Kings XI Punjab | 12 | 270 | 56 | 24.5 | 127.4 | 2/0 | – | – | – | 10 | ||
| 2017 | Kings XI Punjab | 14 | 234 | 93* | 23.4 | 125.1 | 1/0 | – | – | – | 12 | 1 | |
| 2018 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 11 | 122 | 35 | 15.3 | 119.6 | 0/0 | – | – | – | 6 | ||
| 2019 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 5 | 86 | 28 | 17.2 | 162.3 | 0/0 | – | – | – | 4 | ||
| 2020 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 4 | 214 | 87 | 71.3 | 139.9 | 2/0 | – | – | – | 3 | 1 | |
| 2021 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 9 | 131 | 44 | 14.6 | 93.6 | 0/0 | – | – | – | 6 | ||
| 2022 | Gujarat Titans | 11 | 317 | 68 | 31.7 | 122.4 | 3/0 | – | – | – | 13 | 1 | Champions |
| 2023 | Gujarat Titans | 17 | 371 | 81 | 23.2 | 129.3 | 2/0 | – | – | – | 11 | ||
| 2024 | Gujarat Titans | 9 | 136 | 39 | 15.1 | 118.3 | 0/0 | – | – | – | 7 |
Franchise journey
- Kolkata Knight Riders: 2008 to 2010
- Chennai Super Kings: 2011 to 2013
- Kings XI Punjab: 2014 to 2017
- Sunrisers Hyderabad: 2018 to 2021
- Gujarat Titans: 2022 to 2024
Ball-by-ball detail
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Dot balls faced | 37.6% |
| Balls per four | 7.8 |
| Balls per six | 26.4 |
| Catches | 93 |
| Run-outs | 20 |
| Stumpings | 26 |
At the auction
| Auction | Set | Base price | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | – | ₹45 lakh | Sold to Chennai Super Kings for ₹45 lakh (US$100k) |
| 2014 | WK1 | ₹1 cr | Sold to Kings XI Punjab for ₹2.20 cr |
| 2018 | WK1 | ₹1 cr | Sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for ₹5 cr |
| 2019 | – | ₹1 cr | Sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for ₹1.20 cr |
| 2022 | – | ₹1 cr | Sold to Gujarat Titans for ₹1.90 cr |
Sources
- CricArcade IPL season statistics
- CricArcade IPL auction archive
- Kaggle IPL Complete Match Dataset 2008-2026, ball-by-ball, cross-checked against Cricsheet