Dinesh Mongia is a changed man. From the mild-mannered, soft spoken batsman with a pleasant smile, Mongia is bitter today about the circumstances that saw him join the Indian Cricket League (ICL).

Speaking to Devendra Pandey at the ICL training camp he expresses his frustration on being given a raw deal by the selectors, Indian cricket?s obsession with stars and, at the end, threatens with an expose in the coming days.

Didn?t the eventuality of a BCCI ban bother you when you joined the ICL?

You can?t help it. They have repeatedly ignored me and so they can?t dictate where I play. Every player who has joined ICL wants to play cricket. Ask them to play beach cricket and they will. It?s their rozi-roti. Tomorrow they will say stop playing gully cricket. So what do I do?

You seem quite bitter…

When the treatment is different, it hurts. If you see a team like Australia, Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh and Hussey, they all are treated as equals. It?s the performance that matters there, not the name. One thing has be to understood, when you are the boss, you have to give due importance to everybody. Can?t just concentrate on the big names and ignore the lesser players. One has to understand that one needs the entire team to achieve the goal.

You never had a fixed position in the batting line-up, did that bother you?

I have batted as an opener, at No 3, No 4 and even at No 7. Just before going to the World Cup, I had an average of 40 and once I was among the top 10 batsman in the world. But I was dropped to No 7. And also see the matches I got. Just see the conditions and my performance.

Before the 2007 World Cup, I was given a break against Australia in Malaysia, where I scored 63 not out. But after that I was dropped. I think I was dropped because I was scoring runs or I played well, that is the signal I got.

Later too, I got a chance against Australia, where I failed. I did tour South Africa, played in Durban, where I disappointed, but everybody else too failed. Later I played Twenty20 and was instrumental in winning the match against SA and again the same old story: I was dropped.

But people said you were batting very slow?

Ya, this is what they told me and I agree. But on that entire tour the team never played full 40 overs, and I managed to score 40-odd and took wickets too. Tel me, is it bad?

What was the reaction of your county mates when you were repeatedly ignored by the national selectors?

They all laughed, seriously, they passed remarks that I can?t repeat. They don?t know much about Indian cricket, but sometimes they used to tell me that I was born in the wrong country.

These are all general allegations, can you be more specific?

There are so many things, which have happened and I will reveal everything in front of the whole media one day.