The Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA) on Tuesday issued a statement in which they have condemned the “threatening” message to veteran wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha by a senior Indian journalist while welcoming the BCCI decision to investigate the issue even further.
In the statement, ICA President, Ashok Malhotra said, “We acknowledge the fact that the media plays a very important role both in the growth of our game and the players but there’s always a line that must never be crossed. What has happened in Saha’s case is totally unacceptable and we call for the respective press organizations too to take up the matter and ensure such things are not repeated.”
ICA strongly condemns 'threat' to #WriddhimanSaha!#BCCI #IndianCricketTeam pic.twitter.com/TbgUVPZlt6
— Indian Cricketers' Association (@IndCricketAssoc) February 22, 2022
On the other hand, the ICA Secretary, Hitesh Majumdar said, “We would offer our full support to Saha at this juncture. No player should be subjected to such ‘threats’ from anyone in the media or elsewhere. We urge the media also to come out in support of Saha and ensure that these sorts of issues don’t crop up again. Any interaction between a player and the media has always to be voluntary.”
Saha, 37, who has been dropped from the Indian Test squad, had taken to Twitter to allege that one “respected” journalist took an aggressive tone after his refusal to grant him an interview.
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Along with the screenshots of the chats, Wriddhiman Saha wrote: “After all of my contributions to Indian cricket..this is what I face from a so-called ‘Respected’ journalist! This is where the journalism has gone”.
After all of my contributions to Indian cricket..this is what I face from a so called “Respected” journalist! This is where the journalism has gone. pic.twitter.com/woVyq1sOZX
— Wriddhiman Saha (@Wriddhipops) February 19, 2022
However, Wriddhiman Saha has decided that he will not be disclosing the name of the journalist publically who threatened him even if the BCCI asks him. After his tweet, former head coach Ravi Shastri, and former stars like Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh came out in his support and asked him to reveal the name of the journalist.
