Perth: When Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni decides to play football after cricket, Indian journalists can do nothing but patiently watch him play. It is not that they want to report on his football skills but they have no other option because the captain has decided to play football as part of his unwinding after a match rather than speak to the media.
Armed with notebooks and dictaphones, almost all journalists watched for an hour as Dhoni happily dribbled the football along with his teammates. Many journalists were heard answering calls from their editors wanting to know why they haven’t filed Dhoni’s comments after the match against the UAE which ended much before schedule. One scribe was heard telling his editor: “The captain is playing another sport now. So we all are waiting!”
As per convention, post-match press conferences are to be held within half an hour after the end of the match. Indian opener Rohit Sharma had hit the winning run just before 7pm local time. UAE skipper Mohammad Tauqir addressed the media within 10 minutes after the match and even left the ground, but the media who were forced to admire Team India’s football game could not leave.
The relationship between Indian media and Team India has been at its worse in this World Cup. Not only have they been denied interviews with players unlike all other teams who line up players every day, now they are being made to wait for even the mandatory press conference.
One of the reasons for this fallout is that the Indian team management feels the Indian media twists facts and that many stories are created to attract readership or viewership by the TV media.
Following reports of Indian journalist being ignored by their team, more stories about players from other teams are appearing in the Indian media. Despite making the media waiting for one hour, Dhoni did not bother to apologise before he began his press conference. The Indian scribes had to be satisfied with an apology from the ICC’s press liasion staff, for which a scribe replied: “We are used to waiting for Indian star cricketers and captains. Thankfully Dhoni opted for football and not golf ...maybe because there isn’t any golf course nearby.”
