Rahul Dravid voices his viewson Wriddhiman Saha’s fiery comments

India head coach Rahul Dravid expressed his views on veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha’s heated statements following his exclusion from the Test team for the upcoming two-match series against Sri Lanka at home on Sunday.

On Saturday, the BCCI revealed the 18-man roster for the home series. Four senior players, including Saha, were omitted from the squad. He then said that Dravid had advised him to consider “retirement” since he would not be considered for selection in the future.

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“The team management had informed me that I would no longer be considered. As long as I was a member of the India squad, I couldn’t say anything. Even my coach, Rahul Dravid, urged that I consider retiring,” on Saturday, Saha informed reporters.

When asked about the statements following India’s 3-0 T20I series win over the West Indies, Dravid stated that the 37-year-old “earned honesty and clarity” and that the “retirement” talk stemmed from his “great respect for Saha and his achievements and services to Indian cricket.”

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“I’m not at all hurt,” Dravid remarked. “I have a great deal of respect for Wriddhiman Saha and his achievements and contributions to Indian cricket, and my chat with him came from that place. He deserved honesty and clarity, and I didn’t want him to learn about it via the media.”

“These are the kinds of talks I have with athletes all the time. I’m not upset because I don’t expect players to constantly enjoy the messages or agree with everything I say about them. That is not the case. When having unpleasant talks with individuals, it is often necessary to have them with players. You don’t always expect someone to agree with you or like you, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t talk about it.”

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The head coach went on to say that he and India’s new all-format captain, Rohit Sharma, have made certain that all players are adequately informed on their roles in the squad and that those who are dropped or omitted are given a good explanation.

“Even today, before any playing XI is chosen, either myself or Rohit will speak to the players who are not playing and are willing to address questions about why they are not playing and why a specific XI could play. It doesn’t bother me. It’s natural for players to be offended and sad at times, but I just felt that my team deserved clarity and honesty because of the respect I have for them, and that’s all I was trying to communicate.”

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Saha last played for India against New Zealand in November, scoring a brave 61 in the Kanpur Test while suffering from neck problems. Despite being retained for the South Africa Test trip, Rishabh Pant was chosen as the primary wicketkeeper.

With India only playing three Tests this year – two against Sri Lanka and one postponed from the 2021 visit of England – the management decided to foster another young wicketkeeper in KS Bharat, therefore Saha was dropped from the team.

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“With Rishabh Pant having established himself as our No. 1 choice wicketkeeper this year, we were hoping to develop a younger wicketkeeper,” Dravid stated. “That was the final straw. This has no bearing on my sentiments or admiration for Wriddhi or his efforts.

“As I previously stated, the easiest thing for me would be to avoid having these conversations or speaking with players about it, but that is not who I am or what I want to do.” I don’t expect them to appreciate it, but I hope that at some point they would accept the fact that I was able to come forward and have these talks with them.”