Never disrespected Rahul Dravid, clarifies S Sreesanth

05/17/2020

Former India and RR pacer S Sreesanth has refuted Paddy Upton’s claims and stated that he could never disrespect someone like Rahul Dravid. However, the Kerala pacer has further added that he wanted to play against Chennai Super Kings but the absence of his name in the team made him angry.

Controversy’s favourite child S Sreesanth was arrested on May 16, 2013, for his alleged involvement in the RR spot-fixing scandal, which saw him being banned by the BCCI for life. Although the standing court instructed the board to change the decision, Sreesanth could never make a comeback to the fold.

Years later, Paddy Upton, who was associated with the franchise since 2013, in his book, claimed that 24 hours before Sreesanth, along with Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan, were arrested, the former had been “sacked and sent home for poor behaviour”. Upton claimed that the pacer blurted out in front of the team that “Rahul Dravid and Upton could go and f*** themselves” in response to dropping him against CSK. But Sreesanth has now refuted the claims.

“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,” Sreesanth said on Helo Live on Friday.

“Yes, I wanted to play against CSK and wanted 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. CSK jersey looks like the Australian jersey,” he said.

Sreesanth further stated that Upton was never respected inside the team for his lack of cricket credentials but he always had good conversations with the South African mental conditioning coach.

“He 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.”