‘Wanted to play against CSK’: Sreesanth denies claims he argued with Rajasthan Royals coach Rahul Dravid
“I could never disrespect a man like Rahul Dravid. He is the best captain. I was angry because I was not part of the squad during the CSK match. I asked the reason for the same,” he said on the HELO app.
Fast bowler S Sreesanth has dismissed Paddy Upton’s claims that he had beef with his Rajasthan Royals coach Rahul Dravid. Upton, the mental conditioning coach of the Royals, had in his book ‘The Barefoot Coach’, written that Sreesanth had an ugly spat with Dravid, the former captain of the side and accused the management of not picking him for a match against Chennai Super Kings during the 2013 edition of the IPL. Sreesanth thwarted away Upton’s remarks, saying the context was blown out of proportion and that although he was disappointed at his exclusion, he never disrespected his skipper.
“I could never disrespect a man like Rahul Dravid. He is the best captain. I was angry because I was not part of the squad during the CSK match. I asked the reason for the same,” he said on the HELO app.
“Yes, I wanted to play against CSK and want to win against them. But I don’t know the exact reason for keeping me out. In the Durban match, I bowled to MS Dhoni and took his wicket. After that match, I did not get any chance to play against CSK. Team management never gave me a proper reason. I don’t hate Dhoni or CSK, but I go with colour. The CSK jersey resembles the Australian team, that’s all.”
Throwing light on the spot-fixing scandal, Upton had claimed that Sreesanth was on a string of poor behaviour, which among other things, included blurting in front of the team that Dravid and Upton ‘could go f*** themselves’. In response, Sreesanth turned down the allegations, and in fact explained how Upton was not in the best book of players.
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“Paddy Upton was not respected by many players in the team. He was not that big of a player. But I used to have good conversations with him. I really don’t know what made him write this. He should only explain the reason,” Sreesanth added.
