All’s well between me and Sachin: Dravid

JAIPUR: Rahul Dravid on Thursday rubbished speculations that things were not well between him and Sachin Tendulkar. The speculations arose after the Little Master gave Dravid’s felicitation ceremony in Mumbai on Tuesday a miss.

Attending a promotional event here along with Rajasthan Royals’ teammates Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny, Amit Singh, Abhishek Raut, The Wall made it clear that all is well between them.

The veteran said that Tendulkar had spoken to him before leaving for London to have his toe checked. “People are talking rubbish. Sachin and I are very good friends, and everything is just fine. He had called me up on Monday to inform that he won’t be able to attend the felicitation programme,” Dravid said.

The Rajasthan Royals’ skipper also agreed that Yuvraj Singh will be missed in this edition of the Indian Premier League.

“But he is dealing with a more important thing. His speedy recovery and fitness is the biggest concern for us now. He is playing the most important innings of his life. We want him to be fit first, cricket can wait,” was Dravid’s take on his former teammate Yuvraj.

Aware of the fact that getting into the shoes of Shane Warne won’t be an easy task, Dravid said their aim would be to win the first few games to begin campaign on a high.

“Having Warne in the middle is always a big thing, and he will be missed this time. I personally, will miss his personality. But, we have a good team this time, and we have been able to keep the same team like last year. So, we are looking forward to a great season ahead,” Dravid said.

Dravid said even after retirement, cricket is keeping him busy.

“Even the day after I announced my retirement, there wasn’t any special feeling at home. Yes, there was a sense of relief, but honestly speaking, I didn’t get any time to think about anything else. IPL was knocking at the door and I had to be busy preparing for it,” Dravid said, with a smile, adding, “For me, things haven’t really changed.”