Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja was unforgiving in his statement towards a reporter during a press conference on Wednesday (June 29) after the said reporter made some sarcastic comments on the coldness in the relationship between players and media.
A reporter had asked Raja about how he uses the media to convey his thoughts to the public, but the Pakistani players have not been allowed to talk to the media. This didn’t sit well with the former Pakistan captain, who was brutal in his reply and blamed the media for the breakage in the relationship between the two parties.
"You said a very nice thing that speaking to the media is like a time waste for you. But at the same time, it is the media that is sitting in front of you that will portray your point of view. This is not me saying that you have taken the support of media to highlight your work. Before you became PCB chairman, you had mentioned a two-way channel of communication between the players and media but we haven’t seen that either in your tenure. Players have been hidden from media in a manner that we are their biggest enemies…," the reporter said.
In his reply, Raja was short with the reporter and also brought up how the media treated former PCB chief executive Waseem Khan during one of his sessions. Raja further pointed out that the Pakistani media opts to exaggerate stuff with profligate headlines instead of reporting important matters, which is why players are 'afraid' of having interactions.
"Listen… no, your question ends right there. See, my whole point is that if you tell Mohammad Waseem that he brings a laptop and he has no understanding, how does that reflect? We cannot be judgmental. First, you scare away people and then you say that players don't speak to us. Players while interacting think 10 times and that is because a barrier has come between them and media. And it is you who has to win back the confidence. Why else would players not talk if in a healthy environment," Raja said.
"Think yourself. You feel we have urged the players to not talk to you. It is the players who have told us 'We don't want to talk'. Just look at the headlines you guys have published from my previous press conference. No one has spoken about the cricket foundation or any other important aspect. All that is mentioned is my position, if there is pressure or me, or if I speak to Imran Khan… these are the headlines you give. If that is how you think, people won't speak to you, obviously,” he added.
(Hindustan Times inputs)
