Denying all claims made by former mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton that tainted India pacer Sreesanth had an ugly spat with then captain Rahul Dravid in the Rajasthan Royals dressing-room, the pacer accused the management of not picking him after he picked the wicket of Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni in Durban in 2013.

“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.”

Later, Sreesanth went to express his displeasure over Upton’s book and he also gave a statement on CSK rivalry.

“Yes, I want to play against CSK and want 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 proper reason. I don’t hate Dhoni or CSK, but I go with color. CSK jersey resembles the Australian team, that’s all,” added Sreesanth.

Sreesanth, who was banned from cricket following a spot-fixing scandal in 2013, revealed that Upton was not respected by many players.

“Paddy Upton was not respected by many players in the team. He was not that big of a player. But I used to have good conversation with him. I really don’t know what made him to write this. He should only explain the reason,” Sreesanth concluded.