The Indian Cricketers' Association (ICA) on Tuesday (February 22) condemned the “threatening” message to Wriddhiman Saha by an unidentified journalist while welcoming BCCI’s decision to investigate the matter.
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"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 organisations too to take up the matter and ensure such things are not repeated," ICA President Ashok Malhotra said in a statement.
"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," Hitesh Majumdar, the ICA Secretary said.
"Any interaction between a player and the media has always to be voluntary.”
Wriddhiman Saha, 37, didn’t find his name in the Indian squad announced for the upcoming two-Test series against Sri Lanka last Saturday (February 19). He posted the tweet on the same day, which states: “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.”
The message from the unnamed journalist reads: “You did not call. Never again will I interview you. I don’t take insults kindly. And I will remember this.”
Meanwhile, Saha has said that he will not reveal the identity of the journalist, as and when the BCCI communicates with him over his tweet.
“I haven’t received any communication from the BCCI yet. If they ask me to reveal the name (of the journalist), I would tell them it was never my intention to harm somebody’s career, to pull a person down. That’s why I didn’t reveal the name in my tweet. That’s not the teaching of my parents. The main purpose of my tweet was to expose the fact that there’s someone in the media who does such things, disrespecting a player’s wish,” he told The Indian Express.
