Rahul refuses to react on 'Operation Clean Bowled'

Dhaka, May 9 (UNI) Team India captain Rahul Dravid today refused to react to the alleged report that Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar were rested for ''non-cooperation'' with him during the World Cup.

Indian cricket was plunged into fresh controversy after a TV sting operation caught national selectors blaming ex-coach Greg Chappell for a disastrous World Cup campaign.

The four national selectors -- Ranjib Biswal, Bhupinder Singh Senior, Venkatapathy Raju and Sanjay Jagdale -- were shown blaming Chappell for the humiliation.

''Greg wanted to show everybody he was the boss. He was not happy with anybody,'' Bhupinder Singh was attributed to have said.

''There were instances when Chappell was not talking to senior players for four to five days. He was not on talking terms with Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh,'' the North Zone selector said.

The report blamed Tendulkar and Ganguly for nurturing their own captaincy ambitions over incumbent Dravid.

''They were not supporting Dravid, some players were backing Tendulkar, some Ganguly. I won't call it factionalism but there were some personal problems,'' Sanjay Jagdale, who was team manager during the World Cup, allegedly said.

An official from the Board of Control For Cricket in India refused to comment on the sting, dubbed 'Operation Clean Bowled'.

Reacting on the operation, Dravid said, ''Honestly speaking I was happy with the side given to me. I never had any problems with anybody. I was satisfied with the support I got.'' ''I am not going to react to everything that is being said. I have not seen or felt any problem. I am not going to say anything beyond this about things that I don't know. I know that the players are keen to get on to the field," he said.

UNI