S Sreesanth abused Rahul Dravid and me, reveals Paddy Upton in his book The Barefoot Coach
Updated May 03, 2019 | 11:48 IST | Times Now Digital
Discarded pacer S Sreesanth had a public outburst following non-selection in an IPL game which prompted him to use cuss words for Rajasthan Royals coach Paddy Upton and then skipper Rahul Dravid.
Sreesanth abused Dravid and him, claimed Upton | Photo - BCCL/AP |
In his newly-launched book 'The Barefoot Coach,' Indian cricket team's former mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton has made some startling revelations. Upton, who was appointed as the head coach of the Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals in 2013, has opened up on the spot-fixing scandal in his book, shedding light on the incidents that unfolded in the build-up to the tournament's biggest expose.
Upton, in his book, has revealed about a shocking incident that took place in the Rajasthan Royals dressing room when now-discarded pacer S Sreesanth had a massive outburst after being dropped from a game and went on to abuse him and Rahul Dravid - the then captain of the Royals. Sreesanth was sacked and given the direction to go back home 24 hours prior to his arrest on May 16, 2013, due to his poor behaviour, revealed Upton.
"The reason for Sreesanth's repeated poor behaviour, which amongst other things included blurting out in front of the team that Rahul Dravid (captain) and I (Upton) could go and f…k ourselves in response for dropping him, now made sense," he wrote in his book explaining why Sreesanth was sacked.
Upton later in an interview to the Indian Express shed more light on Sreesanth's rage and said there was definitely something more to it as in a squad which consists of over 20 players, only eleven get to play in a game on a given day which means all others will have to wait for their opportunities and the players are left disappointed. However, in Sreesanth's case, his outburst was extraordinary, said the former Indian conditioning coach.
"If someone is saying Sreesanth is an emotional person and was really upset, I am not going to be saying that you can't have an emotional outburst. But an outburst of that nature for being told that you are not going to play is an out-of-the-ordinary outburst. We tell 13 players (Royals squad strength is 24) every single IPL game for the last 7 seasons that you are not playing. Out of the 13, four have every reason to feel disappointed, but none of these reasons are enough to have that level of public outburst (that Sreesanth had). This suggests that there was something more to it," he was quoted as saying by Indian Express.
However, Sreesanth denied Upton's claims calling him a liar and said he never abused anyone. "He is such a big liar… I never said anything like that," the pacer was quoted as saying by Indian Express.
"It's really sad. Feeling really bad for Mr. Paddy Upton. If he wants this 30-second fame, he can have it. All I can say is I've always respected every individual I've played with and always will. I had high regards for him till date. It's really disappointing to see this. I really hope he starts to at least respect himself and not sell himself to make other people happy," he said.
Sreesanth along with two Rajasthan Royals players Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan were arrested by the Delhi Police in a spot-fixing case. The trio was banned for life by the BCCI following their arrest with the franchise also bearing the brunt getting banned for a couple of years after one of the co-owner Raj Kundra's name also popped up in the case. Kundra admitted to betting and was banned for life from cricket activities.
All three cricketers were in 2015 discharged by a Delhi Court. The Supre Court, earlier this year, revoked the life-ban on Sreesanth asking the BCCI to review the quantum of punishment, Sreesanth last played for India in August 2011.
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