The Indian Cricketers' Association on Tuesday issued a official statement saying that the body strongly condemned the "threatening message" sent by a journalist to veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha and added that if the BCCI cancels the reporter's accreditation or access to the board, they will support it. On the evening that the 37-year-old cricketer was dropped from the Indian Test team for the home series against Sri Lanka, Saha received a message from a journalist who forced him for an interview before threatening him. The cricketer later shared screenshots of the messages, lashing out at the "respected journalist".
"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 an official statement.The ICA also welcomed BCCI's decision to probe into the matter and take strict action against the reporter."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 to also 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," Hitesh Majumdar, the ICA Secretary said.
The issue escalated after former players like Ravi Shastri, Parthiv Patel and Virender Sehwag, among others, joined in the criticism of the said journalist. The BCCI subsequently decided to get to the bottom of the issue with treasurer Arun Dhumal already stating on record that secretary Jay Shah will speak to the veteran wicketkeeper. Saha however, wishes to remain tight-lipped on the matter if and when asked by the BCCI, explaining that his purpose was to expose the act on social media and not harm anyone's career.“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.
