Out of favour pacer S Sreesanth has shot himself in the foot with his statement that the Rajasthan Royals team management did not give him a chance to play against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after claiming M S Dhoni's wicket.
It is indeed true that Sreesanth dismissed CSK captain Dhoni in the 2009 IPL which was held in South Africa. However, Sreesanth was with Kings XI Punjab then.
He played one more season for Kings XI before moving to Kochi Tuskers Kerala in 2011. The temperamental Sreesanth donned Royals' colours in the 2013 season before being slapped with a life ban for his alleged involvement in spot-fixing in the same edition. The ban was later reduced to seven years and the Kerala player can return to the sport this September.
Former Rajasthan Royals coach Paddy Upton wrote about an infamous incident that happened in the franchise dressing room back in 2013 in his autobiography named 'Barefoot Coach'.
The 51-year-old said that Sreesanth had a massive outburst after being axed from the game against Chennai Super Kings in the sixth edition of the IPL. He said that Sreesanth abused him and captain Rahul Dravid for dropping him from the XI.
However, the 37-year-old Sreesanth denied those claims in Hello live on Friday and said that he never had any argument with Dravid and wondered what made Upton write all these things.
"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.
"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 (in the 2009 IPL), I bowled to M S Dhoni and took his wicket.
"After that match, I did not get any chance to play against CSK. Team management never gave me proper reason. I don't hate Dhoni or CSK, but I go with colour. CSK jersey resembles the Australian team, that's all," he said.
For the record, Sreesanth did play against CSK in the 2011 IPL for Kochi Tuskers.
(With inputs from IANS)
