A day after Wriddhiman Saha opened up on the conversation Rahul Dravid had with him following the South Africa Test series last month, the India head coach said he is not at all “hurt” that the veteran wicketkeeper has revealed the private chat around his future.
According to Saha, Dravid had asked him to consider retirement from the longest format as he wasn’t in the selectors and team management’s scheme of things anymore.
As it turned out, the Chetan Sharma-led selection committee on Saturday (February 19) dropped Saha from the squad for the upcoming two-Test series against Sri Lanka at home.
Addressing the media after the final T20I against West Indies, Dravid cited that he wanted to give the Bengal stumper clarity about his position in the team.
“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.
“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,” he added.
Dravid further said that he likes to communicate with players even before every playing XI being picked.
“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.”
Explaining the reason behind speaking to Saha, the chief coach said it was because Rishabh Pant has already established himself as the first-choice keeper and the 37-year-old wouldn’t have got chances.
“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 (KOna Bharat). This doesnt change my feelings or respect for Wriddhi.”
For Dravid, telling a harsh truth is better than keeping the players in a confused state.
“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,” he added.
(With PTI inputs)
