"Not hurt at all" - Rahul Dravid on Wriddhiman Saha saga

Team India men's head coach Rahul Dravid has responded on Sunday (20 February, 2022) that he is 'not hurt at all' as the veteran wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha revealed their private conversations in public. 

Dravid has said that he has 'deep respect' for Saha, claiming that the motive of his message was to give him the 'clarity he deserves'.

Although Saha has recently revealed that after India's series defeat in South Africa, Dravid has asked him to consider retiring from international cricket, as he was no longer a part of the plans for future series. He also mentioned that BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has assured him his place until he is there, wondering 'why everything changed so fast' as well.

Meanwhile, in the press conference, after Team India beat West Indies by 17 runs in the third and final T20I on Sunday, the first question Rahul Dravid faced was about Wriddhiman Saha's comments.

The batting legend stated, "Thanks for congratulating us on winning the T20I series. (laughs)"

He continued by saying, "No, I’m actually not hurt at all. I have a deep respect for Wriddhiman Saha and his achievements, contributions to Indian cricket. My conversation with him came from that place. He deserved honesty and clarity. I didn’t want him to hear about it, you know, 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 the messages or agree with everything I have to say about them."

Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid also added that he and captain Rohit Sharma believe in open and two-way communication about all the selections, irrespective of how difficult things can become.

He further stated, "Sometimes you have difficult conversations with players. But that doesn’t mean you brush it under the carpet and don’t have the conversations, right? I truly believe in having those conversations before every XI is picked.”

"Even now, either I or Rohit will speak to those not playing. And we are open to answering questions as to why they are not playing and what are the reasons for a particular XI that we might play. It’s natural for players at times to get upset and feel hurt. I just felt my team deserved clarity and honesty; that’s all I was trying to convey," he concluded.

However, Men in Blue have registered a convincing series victory against West Indies as well.