Senior batsman Virender Sehwag on Saturday denied reports of any rift with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni during India's dismal cricket tour of Australia, saying they were just media creations.
Published: Mar 10, 2012, 05:35 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 10, 2012, 05:35 PM (IST)
Indian opener Virender Sehwag denied former coach Greg Chappell’s view that he wanted to become the captain of the team when Anil Kumble had stepped down from the post a few years ago © Getty Images
Mumbai: Mar 10, 2012
Senior batsman Virender Sehwag on Saturday denied reports of any rift with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni during India’s dismal cricket tour of Australia, saying they were just media creations.
“I don’t think there is any rift. It was created by the media. We will continue to play like we did earlier. We have spoken about this in Australia and also over here. There is no rift among any player,” Sehwag told reporters at a promotional event for ‘Rasna’ here.
Reports of dissensions in the squad surfaced after the team management introduced the rotation policy for only three openers — Sachin Tendulkar, vice captain Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir – during the triangular series Down Under, a move which sparked off a heated debate on its merits.
The first signs of differences came into the open when Sehwag’s Test opening partner Gambhir took a dig at Dhoni for not finishing the matches early enough with the skipper retorting that it was a matter of perception.
Dhoni then had publicly criticised the fielding abilities of the trio saying they were not being played together as they were slow fielders and could cost the team 20 extra runs.
But Sehwag, who has been rested for the Asia Cup commencing in Mirpur tomorrow on the advice of the team’s physio, had countered his captain by saying that the seniors were never told that fielding was an issue when the rotation policy was introduced.
Sehwag also denied former coach Greg Chappell’s view that he wanted to become the captain of the team when Anil Kumble had stepped down from the post a few years ago.
“I have always said I don’t want to be the captain. I am a senior player and it is my duty to score runs whether I am the vice captain or not. If I have any suggestion, I will tell the captain irrespective of who the captain is,” he countered when asked for his reaction to Chappell’s comments. (PTI)
