Rahul Dravid, skipper of Rajasthan Royals, said that the matter of spot-fixing has been as tough as handling “bereavement” for him, as well as other players of the squad.
As per the recent reports of Times of India, Dravid was quoted saying, “It has been a very tough phase for us especially the week after the trio was arrested. The way things have gone, it has been real sad as well as a great disappointment for us. It was unexpected and it’s very much like bereavement.” For the very first time it was looking as if, Dravid wants to express his emotions rather than just keeping it within him.
Rajasthan won the Eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad by four wickets to qualify for the qualifier 2 and now they will take on Mumbai Indians on Friday. He was quoted by DNA saying, “Winning is the only thing now, if you lose the game then you need to pack your bags and go home. We are looking forward to win the game against Mumbai and make it to the finals once again.”
Meanwhile, report in Hindustan Times quoted Rahul saying, “Couple of day break that we took after the game against Hyderabad was something that was very much needed. Every team member and coaching staff was ready to have an honest discussion and things eased out after that.”
He went onto say, "The way my team responded was something that gave me a sigh of relief. All of them were ready to discuss these things rather than going into the shell. It was great to see that they handled the situation so well.”
Dravid was quoted by Indian Express saying, “"We have a very small support staff, Zubin Barucha and Monty Desai (Royals coach for the last two IPL seasons), just three of them. They are our unsung heroes and add so much value to the side. They are the one who has been our strength in this tough time. His men did some great job as they allowed the emotions to flow out during those couple of days break and then shifted their focus on the game.”
He talked about the “face to face” interactions of his players with Upton, “It has been a great pleasure working with Paddy. I had always enjoyed working with him and now even youngsters of my side come up to me and say, “He is fantastic and the way this guy allows the players to bond together Is something that injects a fresh spirit in the team.”