Dravid rubbishes Sehwag-Chappell spat reports
by Cricket Archive Staff Reporter
DateLine: 8th February 2007
India skipper Rahul Dravid on Wednesday dismissed media reports that
batsman Virender Sehwag had fallen out with coach Greg Chappell's on
the recent South African tour.
Local media said team manager Chetan Desai had filed a complaint
against Sehwag in his tour report to the Board of Control for Cricket
in India (BCCI), after the batsmen had failed to keep an appointment
with Chappell.
Sehwag, according to the manager's report, requested Chappell and team
bio-mechanist Ian Frazer for a special net session on the eve of the
second Test in Durban but failed to turn up.
When confronted by the duo, Sehwag was reported to have told them he
did not feel like practising. Dravid, preparing for Thursday's one-day
match against Sri Lanka here, told reporters he did not take either the
media - or manager's - reports seriously.
"First, I have not seen that report, and to be honest, there is no
problem within the team," Dravid said. How authentic your report is,
and you obviously got it from somewhere, but anyway I think it is
important to put it in perspective," he told reporters.
Dravid also took a swipe at manager Desai, saying he was not an
important cog in Indian cricket.
"I have been asked questions and my views on the report given by
someone who when I look into the history of Indian cricket, doesn't
necessarily feature very prominently," said Dravid. "So when I am asked
to comment on people at least you should expect me to answer questions
about people who have been involved with the game or at least played
the game in some capacity.
"Anyone is entitled to comment or write a report but me commenting on
that is possible only if it is worthy of my comment." Desai, a cricket
official from Goa who was appointed manager only for the South African
tour, declined to comment. "I cannot tell you anything on the manager's
report," he said. "I have sent it to the BCCI and cannot reveal
anything on it.
"I have written whatever has happened and given it to the board. I am
not supposed to talk on it."
Sehwag, who performed poorly on the South African tour, was dropped for
the recent one-day series against the West Indies but has been picked
for the four Sri Lanka one-dayers.
