Dravid rubbishes Sehwag-Chappell spat reports by Cricket Archive Staff Reporter

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Player:

RS Dravid, V Sehwag, GS Chappell

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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.