When you are touring Australia, you are not only up against a quality team but also an invisible 12th man – The Australian media – which, by the way, is not so invisible all the time. The Australian media has started playing its tricks during the ongoing Border-Gavaska Trophy. The boiling point was, of course, what transpired between Virat Kohli and a Channel 7 reporter at the Melbourne airport on the former India captain’s arrival on Thursday (December 19). What happened on Saturday during India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s press conference took it to another level.
Channel 7 carried out a report claiming Jadeja “refused” to answer questions from their reporters in English and the TV reporters, who had travelled all the way after being “invited” and were left “bemused by the “strange and frosty media conference at the MCG.”
The reality, however, is a lot different.
Debunking Australia media’s incorrect report, accusing Team India and Ravindra Jadeja
Australian media’s claim 1: “India’s Ravindra Jadeja faced reporters but the Australian media were bemused and confused when the star allrounder refused to answer questions in English,” the report read. “India’s media team pointed to reporters who were allowed to ask questions, and even acknowledged a few Australian journalists. But Jadeja only responded in his native language.”
Reality: At no stage did Jadeja refuse to answer in English (he wasn’t asked a question in that lingo). He answered most of the questions in Hindi, as the Indian reporters asked questions in that language only.
Australian media’s claim 2: “The press conference was then wrapped up when he told the journalists that he had to get the bus.”
Reality: Jadeja did not, at any point, say that the team bus was leaving and he had to go.
Australian media’s claim 3: “India’s media team said the conference was for ‘travelling Indian media only’, even though Australian media was invited.”
Reality: The press meeting was largely reserved for the travelling Indian media. The message from the Indian camp was put out on the travelling media’s WhatsApp group only. The CA representative informed the Aussies.
Australian media misbehaves
A couple of Australian journalists were rude towards the Indian media manager, asking their camerapersons to keep recording their conversation with the Indian media manager. Their behaviour bordered on the aggressive.
This incident comes a couple of days after Channel 7 invaded India legend Virat Kohli’s privacy by filing him with his children without his consent at the Melbourne airport. Although there is no written rule that stops the media from filming a superstar like Kohli in the public domain, his family, especially his young children, could have been spared. Moreover, the aggressive reporting, claiming Kohli lost his cool and had a heated exchange with a female reporter on the same channel, was also questionable. According to a travelling Indian journalist, Kohli never lost temper. He was, in fact, polite in placing a request for the Australian media and even shook hands with the camera after he was assured that the footage would not be used without his permission.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy stands at 1-1, and before the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, it appears that tension is not limited to the cricketers on the field.
