The Indian head coach, Rahul Dravid said he is not at all “hurt” that veteran keeper Wriddhiman Saha revealed a very classified conversation that he had about the latter’s future in the Indian team. Dravid acknowledged that he wanted to give some clarity to the Bengal wicketkeeper. Wriddhiman Saha had told the media that head coach Dravid had asked him to consider retirement during a private conversation after the South Africa series.
Talking about the same as per the quotes in PTI, Rahul Dravid said, “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.”
The India coach said that he will continue to have such conversations with cricketers whether they like the contents of the discussion or not.
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Explaining the same, Rahul Dravid said, “It’s about conversations I constantly have with players. I don’t expect players to always agree with everything I say about them. 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. 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.”
Rahul Dravid also elaborated on the reason behind speaking to Saha was because Rishabh Pant has already established himself as the new No.1 keeper. As a result of that, the Bengal player wouldn’t have got chances.
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The Indian head coach confirmed, “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. Easiest thing for me is to not have those conversations and not speak to players about it. That’s not what I am going to do. But at some stage, I hope they respect the fact that I was able to front up and have those conversations.”
