Before RCB's home match against Gujarat Titans last weekend, Star Sports presenter Mayanti Langer asked Sunil Gavaskar about Virat Kohli's different approach to spin in the GT-RCB match a few days ago. Ta. Gavaskar replied, “Yes, it is very refreshing to see that.” He then changed the subject and responded to Kohli's post-match comments.
Among other things, Kohli said in the post-match TV interview: Games from the box. People can talk about their thoughts and assumptions about the game, but the people who do it day in and day out (and) continue to do it day in and day out know what's going on. ” and other words.
Gavaskar said the video had been played “six times” and scolded Star Sports, saying, “I don't know if it's great to show someone disrespecting his own commentator.” He then pointed out that a commentator had talked about Kohli's 118 strike rate (51, 43b) against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 25.
“But if the strike is 118 and you’re out in the 14th or 15th over with a strike rate of 118, I mean, if you want to applaud that, it’s a little bit different… All these guys are like, oh, Let's talk about we don't care about outside noise. So why do we react to outside noise etc. We all played a little cricket, not much. We don't have an agenda. We talk about what we see.”
But Kohli said what he said, and what's more, he has a history of being a bit resistant to critical comments. In his early days as captain of the Indian team, he once said, “Anyone who has never played for the country has no right to comment on international cricketers anyway. There is no logic in that.'' I think if I hadn't been in that situation myself and had the mindset of a cricketer, I can't sit there and say I would have done things differently.''
For us print and text media folks, this latest interaction between Kohli and SMG was a bit of a moment. You know, they came first for the people of the text, but obviously no one spoke up for us, the insignificant and invisible people. Then they came to Comvox, where big names felt, in SMG's words, “neglected,” but most on social media showed no support.
A communications box filled with cricket giants doesn't believe that it belongs to a larger entity called 'the media', so it doesn't know who we are or what we're saying. is not important. As a matter of fact, modern cricket divas consider the communication box superstars to be the media. Rather than treating the Combox legend in light of his past as a cricketer, they primarily treat him as a person with a microphone who will piss them off. So it's just another form of media that responds either with vitriolic and disgusting “response to critics” metaphors or by cutting off access as a means of punishment.
Cricket commentary stations in India, especially those in English-speaking countries, have given up much of their freedom of speech through contracts with the BCCI or host broadcasters bound by the BCCI. Industry insiders say there are three tiers of freedom of expression in cricket newsrooms in India. The lowest freedom of expression is India's bilateral series communication boxes. BCCI will carry out the entire production, from logistics to commentator selection to content management. The second tier is ICC Events and Her IPL, whose production is outsourced to an independent entity that creates the feed and registers commentators. Anyone who overdoes it a bit and embarrasses a diva or two should just keep BCCI's sentiments, future contracts and social media branding in mind. However, just as with the coronavirus pandemic, there is a possibility that this group's position as opinion makers and thought leaders in games will be diluted into a voiceless mush.
On Indian cricket broadcasts, the cricket commentators from the land of the free and the home of the brave are those who speak the languages of a diverse and increasingly vibrant region.
This is why Ambati Rayudu was able to speak candidly about RCB on Star Sports' Hindi show. “Jab pressure hai, koi bada naam kha batsman koin hindikta hai RBC main – sub young khiladi peeche ker terete hain. Oh jo naami khiladi aage jaake jo cream hain na… cake ke opal. Cream….wo kar ke nikarte hain. Aisa team kabhi nahi jeet ti hai, this is IPL nahin jeete kabhi ye log so ne saron se” (When under pressure, RCB’s big name) You can't see the batters. It's the young players who are in charge at the end of the game. The big names go ahead and eat up the results of the game. This kind of team never wins. This is why they haven't won the IPL for many years).
In English, this is an offensive opinion on the internet.
I was surprised to learn that even for broadcasters with the rights to Indian cricket, access to divas is not a given. They must politely knock on the gate. This season, only nine out of ten IPL captains have given interviews to television rights holders.