Mallya takes potshots at Dravid for IPL debacle

GLOVES ARE OFF: Mallya's outburst was in the offing given the Royal Challengers' poor progress in IPL.

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• Not quitting RC, will fufill 3-yr contract: Dravid
• IPL row: Mallya left isolated, Kumble defends Dravid
• Bangalore Royal Challengers CEO Charu Sharma sacked
• Double-amputee sprinter Pistorius' Olympic dream ends
• India beat S Korea, retain Junior Asia Cup hockey title

Keywords: Bangalore Royal Challengers, Charu Sharma

New Delhi: Controversy refuses to leave the Bangalore Royal Challengers. First, team owner Vijay Mallya sacked the team's chief executive Charu Sharma. Now, Mallya has taken potshots at team captain Rahul Dravid.

Mallya was quoted by a national daily as saying, “My biggest mistake was to abstain from the selection of the team. Though, I watch a lot of cricket whenever possible, I am no cricket expert at the end of the day.”

“I had a separate list of players that I wanted. But since Dravid is such an iconic player I trusted his judgment. And Charu Sharma also backed him. After seeing the final list, my friends told me it looked like a Test team. But I backed both of them thinking that they advised me properly,” Mallya added.

Meanwhile, Sharma also broke his silence after an early exit from the Bangalore IPL team.

“What place do I have among men of so much experience, to select a team or select an 11? As for judging the players, or removing them from the team, I only say that Mallya has to trust the senior players, the coach and the captain,” Sharma said, who was replaced by former Test player Brijesh Patel.

Mallya's outburst was undoubtedly in the offing given the Royal Challengers' poor progress in IPL.

Bangalore's emphasis on Test performers was questioned before the start of the tournament, and their inability to adapt to the Twenty20 format has seen the side crash to six defeats in eight games, leaving them languishing at the bottom of the table.

The Bangalore franchise of the IPL was bought by Mallya's United Spirits Ltd for $111.6 million, making it the second-most expensive franchise in the IPL.