JOIN USTeam India continues media snub
After New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor finished addressing the scribes, a 30-minute wait ensued after which local media manager Prabita Gogoi, loitering around the ground instead of arranging the conference, announced that all the players had left the ground.
In August, skipper Mahandra Singh Dhoni had snubbed the media after their 200-run drubbing at the hands of New Zealand in the Dambulla tri-series, the Jharkhandi playing football even as the journalists waited in vain.
It’s almost a set pattern that the losing captain attends the news conference immediately after the presentation ceremony, followed by the winning captain or the player of the match. Taylor did follow the protocol, promptly making an appearance.
During all ICC events this procedure has to followed, but when it comes to non-ICC events, the rules are governed by the MoU between the host team and the visitors. Not even BCCI CAO Prof Ratnakar Shetty was aware if any such agreement was in place. “I have heard about India skipping the PC, but I don’t have any information on any MoU. So I can’t comment on anything,” he told Deccan Herald over phone.
There was no way Gautam Gambhir, who left the ground immediately after the presentation ceremony to catch a flight to Delhi, could have attended the conference. With the skipper unavailable, it was the responsibility of team manager Mayank Parikh to delegate man of the match Virat Kohli to do the job. But Indian team managers are seldom of any help to the media.
Asked why nobody was put up by the Indians, Parikh’s shocking reply was, “Nobody told us there was a press conference.” Parikh has been with the team for more than one year now, and ought to know a thing or two media commitments.
Coach Gary Kirsten, jogging after the match, didn’t even bother to answer when the no-show at the news conference was brought to his notice. Of course, if the BCCI itself is unwilling to acknowledge the need to honour media commitments by steadfastly refusing to appoint a professional media manager, how can it be expected to pull up the errant team management?