IND vs SL: Have deep respect for Saha, says Dravid after wicket-keeper was sidelined

Wriddhiman Saha has been dropped from the Test squad against Sri Lanka. He hit out at the BCCI for having double standards. However, Rahul Dravid possesses all the respect for him.

Indian wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha was dropped from the Indian Test squad for the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka. He hit out at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), along with the selectors, president Sourav Ganguly and head coach Rahul Dravid, for having double standards. However, Dravid is not hurt by Saha's statements.

Honestly, Dravid feels that Saha deserves to know why he was dropped from the squad. The former insisted that he was not hurt by the latter's outburst, while the coach possessed all the respect for him. The keeper had earlier revealed that the team management informed him that it was looking to groom a younger talent after the South Africa tour.\

Speaking on the same, Dravid said, "I'm not hurt at all. I deeply respect Wriddhiman Saha and his achievements and contributions to Indian cricket. My conversation with him 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 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," added Dravid while talking to the reporters following India's 3-0 T20I series win against the Windies, reports ESPNCricinfo.

It is the first time since 2014 that Saha has been dropped as the keeper in a Test series. The selectors have chosen a young KS Bharat, who has been doing great behind the stumps of late. Dravid asserted that while the latter would be an ideal back-up for Rishabh Pant since India plays just three more Tests this year, the former's contributions cannot go unnoticed and shall forever be respected.

"As I said, the easiest thing for me is not to have these conversations or not speak to players about it, but that's not who I am or what I am going to do. I don't expect them to like it, but at some stage, I hope they will respect the fact that I was at least able to front up and have these conversations with them," Dravid concluded.