Not managed by Rhiti, claims R P Singh

NEW DELHI: Pacer Rudra Pratap Singh today denied being managed by Rhiti Sports, the firm in which Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has a 15 per cent stake, raising questions of a possible conflict of interest.

A newspaper today reported that Dhoni has a 15 per cent stake in the company, which, the report claimed, manages R P Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Pragyan Ojha.

Interestingly, two of these players -- Raina and Jadeja -- are part of the same IPL franchise, the Chennai Super Kings, which is also captained by Dhoni.

"Don't know what exactly is running in the news but just to clarify I am not with Rhiti Sports," tweeted R P Singh after the report came out.

R P Singh has played 14 Tests and 58 ODIs for India. He has taken 40 wickets in the longer format and has 69 scalps in the one-dayers.

He has been out of favour for some time and has not played a Test or ODI since 2011.

Rhiti Sports is owned by Arun Pandey, a close friend of Dhoni. In 2010, Dhoni signed up with Rhiti reportedly for Rs 210 crore, an average of Rs 70 crore a year, the costliest deal in Indian cricket.