Rahul Dravid On Wriddhiman Saha: ‘Not Hurt At All Have Deep Respect For Him’

Saha revealed that Dravid had asked him to consider "retirement"


Indian coach and former Indian Captain Rahul Dravid has finally broken his silence on wicketkeeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha’s comments after he was dropped from the Test series that is going to be played against Sri Lanka in India.

Rahul Dravid said that, “Wriddhiman Saha deserved honesty and clarity,” "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 BCCI announced the 18-member squad for the home series. Four senior players including Saha were 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 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 wicket keeping option.

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