Wriddhiman Saha has made himself unavailable for Bengal for the entire Ranji Trophy this season, citing personal reasons.

This certainly comes as a surprise as the wicketkeeper-batsman was expected to play at least in one or two matches for Bengal before joining the India squad for the home Test series versus Sri Lanka, which is scheduled to get underway after a few weeks, as per the revised fixtures.

On record, Saha has said that his decision to skip Ranji is purely due to “personal reasons”. But his decision to skip the country’s premier domestic tournament for the entire season, something that he has never really done before given his commitment to the game, does raise a question or two.

At 37, Saha isn’t getting any younger, and such a drastic decision taken at this stage could certainly lead to whispers regarding his retirement from international cricket. In the recent past, Saha, on record, clearly said that retirement has not crossed his mind. And on this occasion as well, it has been learnt that Saha, in his close circle, has said he has no immediate plans of retirement.

One would be curious to see what call Saha, who otherwise has a pretty strong mindset and is known to be firm in terms of decision-making, takes.

The other possibility is that he may have got a strong message from the national selectors or the team management that he may not be considered for Tests in future and that may have disheartened him.

Saha, though, didn’t respond to text messages when asked if he did get any such message from the selectors. Neither did he answer calls.

“When we inquired about Wriddhi during the selection meeting (for the Bengal squad) today, we were told by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president (Avishek Dalmiya) and secretary (Snehasish Ganguly) that he has made himself unavailable for this season’s Ranji,” a member of the Bengal coaching staff said on Tuesday.

“We weren’t told why he had taken such a decision... Just this bit that Wriddhi will not be playing in the Ranji Trophy. That’s all.”

Asked if there was any other reason, which may have made Saha feel aggrieved, the coaching staff member replied: “We all know how Wriddhi is. He’s a very decent and well-mannered guy, whose only focus is on the on-field matters. Nothing else.”

Saha was there in Indian Test squad for the South Africa tour as the second wicketkeeper-batsman, with the home Test versus New Zealand in Mumbai back in December being his last appearance for Team India. Rishabh Pant is currently India’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman in all formats and even if Saha gets picked for the upcoming Test series versus Sri Lanka, it is unlikely that he would get to play.