Rahul Dravid, while addressing the press post India’s 3-0 victory over the West Indies, clarified that he is not hurt by Wriddhiman Saha’s comments.
“I’m actually not hurt at all. I have deep respect for Wriddhi and his achievements and his contribution to Indian cricket. My conversation came from that place. I think he deserved honesty and clarity,” Dravid said.
The India coach said that he will continue to have such conversations with players whether they are comfortable or not.
“It’s about conversations I constantly have with players. I don’t expect players to always agree with everything I say about them. That’s not how it works. You can have difficult conversations with the players, but that doesn’t mean you brush it under the carpet and don’t have the conversations,” said the former India captain.
He further added, “I always believe in having those conversations before every playing XI is picked and be open to questions such as why they are not playing. It’s natural for players to get upset and feel hurt.”
He again reiterated his respect for Saha and also divulged the current strategy to groom younger players.
“I was just trying to convey that with RP (Pant) having established himself as our No.1 wicketkeeper-batsman, the idea was to say that we are looking to groom a younger wicketkeeper (KS Bharat). This doesn’t change my feelings or respect for Wriddhi.”
You may recall, Saha has been in the eye of the storm since he revealed his uncomfortable whatsapp chat with a journalist.
For more read: Sehwag reacts to Wriddhiman Saha’s post on threatening messages from journalisthttps://anbnews.in/wp-admin/post.php?post=3833&action=edit
