India head coach Rahul Dravid on Sunday said he wasn’t hurt by Wriddhiman Saha’s decision to divulge to the media details about the private conversation he had with him regarding the wicketkeeper-batter’s future after the South Africa series.

After Saha was dropped from the squad for the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka by the All-India Senior Selection Committee headed by Chetan Sharma, the Bengal cricketer told Sportstar he was informed of the decision immediately after the Cape Town Test in January.

“Rahul bhai called me soon after the (third) Test (against the Proteas). I thought maybe he wanted to tell why he could not include me in the playing eleven and what’s the way forward. But as we started speaking, Rahul bhai said, ‘I don’t know how to tell you this, but for a while, a few selectors and the team management are thinking of trying a new ‘keeper’. I asked him whether it is because of my age or fitness, but Rahul bhai told me that it is not that. They were looking at younger talents,” Saha had said on Saturday.

READ |
IND vs WI, 3rd T20I: Suryakumar, Venkatesh lead India to 3-0 series sweep over Windies

Dravid, after India completed a 3-0 whitewash in the T20I series against the West Indies, addressed the media saying he felt Saha deserved to know the truth. He said, “I am not hurt at all because I have deep respect for Saha’s achievements and contribution to Indian cricket. I think he deserved honesty and clarity. I did not want him to learn about it from the media.”

ALSO READ |
Weekly Digest (February 14-20): From India’s T20 series clean sweep against West Indies to Harry Kane’s brilliance against Man City

Dravid added, “I don’t expect players to agree with everything I have to say about them or like me. That’s not how it works and you don’t brush it under the carpet. It is natural for players to get upset or feel hurt. With Rishabh Pant having established himself as the No. 1 wicketkeeper, the idea was to groom a younger ‘keeper. This doesn’t change my feelings for Wriddhi. The easiest way for me is to not having these chats with the players but that’s not who I am. At some stage, hopefully they will be able at least respect the fact that I was able to front up and have these conversations.”

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly while leaving the Eden Gardens in Kolkata after the conclusion of the third T20I against the West Indies refused to comment further on Saha’s exclusion. “What will I say? It is all up to the selectors,” he said.