Rahul Dravid breaks silence on Wriddhiman Saha's explosive comments after Test squad axe
After being dropped from the Test squad, Saha revealed that Dravid had asked him to consider "retirement" as he won't be further considered for selection.
India head coach Rahul Dravid on Sunday broke his silence on veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha's explosive comments after he was dropped from the Test squad for the impending two-match series against Sri Lanka at home.
_1628698565176_(1)_1645408911602_1645408937685.jpg "Rahul Dravid; Wriddhiman Saha")
The BCCI announced the 18-member squad for the home series on Saturday. Four senior players including Saha was dropped from the team. He later revealed that Dravid had asked him to consider "retirement" as he won't be further considered for selection.
"The team management had told me that I would not be considered henceforth. I could not tell this so long as I was part of the India team setup. Even coach Rahul Dravid suggested that I think about taking retirement," Saha told mediapersons on Saturday.
When asked about the comments after India's 3-0 whitewash against West Indies in the T20I series, Dravid said that the 37-year-old "deserved honesty and clarity" and that "retirement" chat came from his "deep respect for Saha and his achievements and contributions to Indian cricket."
"I'm not hurt at all," Dravid said. "I have a deep respect for Wriddhiman Saha and his achievements and contributions to Indian cricket. My conversation with him actually came from that place, from my respect for him. He deserved honesty and clarity. I didn't want him to hear about it from the media.
"These are conversations I constantly have with players. I'm not hurt about it at all because I don't expect players to always like all the messages, or agree with everything I have to say about them. That's not how it works. When you have difficult conversations with people, sometimes you have to have them with players. You don't always expect them to agree with you or like with you, but that doesn't mean you brush it under the carpet and don't have the conversations."
The head coach further explained that he and India's new all-format captain Rohit Sharma has ensured that all players are properly communicated with pertaining to their roles in the team and the one dropped or excluded are given a proper explanation behind it.
"Before every playing XI is picked, even now, either me or Rohit will speak to the guys not playing and are open to answer questions on why they are not playing and what are the reasons a particular XI might play. I'm not hurt by it. It's natural for players at times to get upset and feel hurt, but I just feel that because of the respect I have for them, my team deserved clarity and honesty, and that's all I was trying to convey."
Saha last played for India in November against New Zealand where he had scored a valiant 61 in the Kanpur Test battling against neck pain. Although he was retained for the South Africa Test tour, Rishabh Pant was picked as the primary wicketkeeping option.
With India scheduled to play just three Tests this year - two against Sri Lanka and the other being the postponed Test from the 2021 tour of England - the management looked to groom another young wicketkeeper in KS Bharat hence dropping Saha from the squad.
"We have only three Tests this year and with Rishabh Pant having established himself as our No. 1 choice wicketkeeper, we were looking to groom a younger wicketkeeper," Dravid explained. "That was it. This doesn't change my feelings or respect for Wriddhi or his contribution.
"Like I said, the easiest thing for me is to not have these conversations or not speak to players about it, but that's not who I am or what I am going to do. I don't expect them to like it, but at some stage I hope they will respect the fact that I was at least able to front up and have these conversations with them."
