Ignominious grey area

With the controversy around Wriddhiman Saha's tweets gaining greater spotlight, the shortcomings of the communication strategy of the BCCI have once again been exposed. The 37-year-old master wicketkeeper has publicised the screenshot of WhatsApp chats with a journalist, wherein he is threatened for not giving an interview. In the screenshot, below the 'missed call notification', read the arrogant threat of the journalist: "You did not call. Never again will I interview you. I don't take insults kindly. And I will remember this." A sense of arrogant power and authority reflected in the message represents a general rot in journalism. It is disgraceful that in the course of questioning those in power, certain journalists start deriving power from their associations, and in fact become addicted to it. But the case of Wriddhiman Saha is more specific to Indian cricket and calls for an inquiry into the fountains of power that embolden such rogue journalists to go beyond their limits. Indian Cricket Association has released a statement in support of the wicket-keeper batsmen. Many past cricketers have also condemned the demeanor of the journalist. Virendra Sehwag expressed his solidarity with Saha through a tweet condemning the person in question: "neither is he respected nor a journalist". Pragyan Ojha, a representative member of ICA, also tweeted that "we will make sure our cricket community boycotts this so-called journalist". Ravi Shastri urged the BCCI president to dive into the matter. Many other prominent cricketers came in support as well. The pertinent question is what has led us to this unfortunate situation. At the root of the problem is lack of proper communication around management and selection of players. The fact that the journalist in question offered Saha to "choose whoever can help (him) the most" reflects badly on the reputation of BCCI. Why should an outsider be of any help to an international cricketer whose cricketing abilities remain unquestionable? Is BCCI not good enough to help its players? Certainly, it is. But it leaves a wider grey area that is used by outsiders to sell the idea of black and white. It is very likely that Saha's revelations represent just the tip of the iceberg. BCCI's communication strategy has consistently come into question. To take just the recent examples into consideration, one saw how the entire episode of Virat Kohli's exit had become so clumsy and ambiguous. In the present case as well, Wriddhiman Saha publicised a WhatsApp chat from Ganguly which read, 'As long as I'm here, you would be in the team' — which is quite contrary to what Rahul Dravid and Chetan Sharma conveyed. Dravid informed the 37-year-old with 'clarity and honesty' that with limited Test cricket to be played this year, focus is on grooming young ones for the future. Chetan Sharma, on the other hand said that Saha is excluded for just the two Tests with Sri Lanka. Wriddhiman Saha accepts the fact that his age is a limiting factor and he is also aware of the respect he commands within the Indian cricketing community. In fact, he himself has backed younger players in the past. Saha is someone who is known to play for his love for the game and he has been doing it for over a long period of time. The threat from the journalist in question is indeed a disrespect to his service. But it could be far worse for someone who is not as mature and is relatively new. The existence of such a mentality is itself a pointer to a deeper rot within the system. Mentalities hardly change and they keep influencing things with their presence. The stated motive of Saha's revelation has been to make sure that no player goes through it again. What he has faced is not a one-time issue. It is rather a loop that needs to be broken. In this light, it becomes pertinent on the part of Saha to reveal the identity of the person — if not publicly then at least to the authorities that may take action. More than being a mere fault, the journalist's actions are part of a systemic malice. It needs to be rooted out at any cost. Also, a time has come perhaps when the BCCI should stop procrastinating around the lacunae in its communication strategy. As one of the most successful Boards across the globe, the BCCI should take appropriate measures to prevent itself from being caught up in such mean controversies.