WC: BCCI slams 'childish tricks', denies sidelining Fletcher

Melbourne, Feb 18: The Indian team management today sought to deny a media report about chief coach Duncan Fletcher being ignored meetings and also not being kept in the loop about team strategy.

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With Indian team taking a day-off and players being left on their own to relax, there were reports of team's support staff led by Team Director Ravi Shastri having an impromptu meeting at the team hotel 'Langham' with Fletcher not informed about it.

"I can confirm that no such meeting was held. There is absolutely no truth that Duncan was not kept in the loop about a meeting of the support staff. I can only term this as figment of imagination," team''s media manager DR R N Baba said when specifically asked about about the rift among support staff.

The general notion since Shastri's appointment has been that it's a move by BCCI to clip Fletcher's wings after team's poor overseas record over a period of time.

In fact, according to team sources, bowling coach Bharath Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar, apparently went to meet their common friend in the evening during the time when the so-called meeting of support staff without Fletcher was supposedly held.

When contacted a senior BCCI official currently in India, said, "Do you people seriously think that Fletcher needs to be sidelined with these kind of childish tricks".

"Fletcher has a contract till the end of the World Cup, which is only a month and half away. We don't think he will seek an extension. So if a man is leaving after the World Cup, do you need to do something like this," the offical said.

PTI