Published: Apr 10, 2016, 12:15 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 10, 2016, 04:41 PM (IST)
Commentary and Harsha Bhogle go hand-in-hand and if we do not find him on the crease, there is a catch to it. BCCI has recently terminated the IPL 2016 contract of Bhogle and will not be seen in the entire season of popular Indian domestic T20 tournament. Bhogle has been part of of the commentary box since the inception of the league but the cricket board has taken a surprising move and kept him away from the league this edition. The senior BCCI official mentioned that players have influenced the decision of board on taking this step. The official said, “When deciding the commentators, we take feedback from everyone. We monitor social media reactions on commentators, and also take inputs from players.” FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Daredevils, IPL 2016, Match 2 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Yet another reason for his exit from IPL 2016 commentary was involvement of heated argument between Bhogle and Vidarbha Cricket Association official during T20 World Cup 2016 game between India and New Zealand at Nagpur, as reported on The Indian Express. Meanwhile Bhogle remains unavailable to provide any comments on termination of his contract and has considered it to be a BCCI management decision. Bhogle has received immense support from his followers on social media platform and he himself has expressed his thoughts on Twitter regarding how much he is missing being out of action for this edition of IPL
Would have been nice to be part of @IPL again. Was in fact looking forward to it. Favourite tournament. Hope #IPL9 is a blockbuster.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 9, 2016
Bhogle’s heated exchange with a Nagpur cricket official occurred during the first match of the T20 World Cup 2016 between India and New Zealand — a game in which the cricket commentator was working in both — the English and Hindi commentary teams. The rooms for the Hindi and English commentary boxes were separated by the president’s enclosure, and those on the commentary roster had to climb down several stairs, climb up again to reach the other box in time.
Bhogle said, “Working on a tight deadline, because of running around, I was at times panting as I went on air. This was because of that shut door.” The news of Bhogle’s heated exchange with the Nagpur official reached the ears of BCCI president Shashank Manohar, following which the decision was taken.
This is not all. Bhogle found himself at the center of crticism after India secured a win in a tense finish against Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup 2016, a game after which legendary Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan tweeted:“With all due respect, it would be really worthy of an Indian commentator to speak more about our players than others all the time.”
T 2184 – With all due respects, it would be really worthy of an Indian commentator to speak more about our players than others all the time.
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) March 23, 2016
Bachchan’s comments were given further impetus by Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who usually remains off Twitter for long period of times. But on this occasion, Dhoni ‘quoted’ Bachchan’s tweet and wrote, “Nothing to add”. It must be mentioned that Bachchan later made it clear that he was neither referring to Sunil Gavaskar nor Sanjay Manjrekar.
Nothing to add https://t.co/8rBel3vw4o
— Mahendra Singh Dhoni (@msdhoni) March 23, 2016
Finding himself caught in the fire, Bhogle posted his side of story assuming it was him who was this commentator Bachchan and Dhoni were talking about. Bhogle wrote, “Star Sports 1 is the world feed. That is the telecast and commentary that goes to everyone around the world. That includes passionate fans in Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa, Australia, England, the USA, everywhere. That broadcast must necessarily be an objective, balanced portrayal of events.”
He continued. “Making that excessively India-centric means being unfair to other teams playing and to viewers from their countries who have the right to be as passionately involved as Indian supporters. And so, talking more about India, in a game like yesterday’s, would be letting down viewers in, say, Bangladesh.”
