The BCCI ought to learn this lesson from the Rohit Sharma issue: Being stingy with information on player injuries can be highly counter-productive. It can also leave your captain unimpressed
India captain Virat Kohli, who was unimpressed with the lack of clarity surrounding Rohit Sharma's injury. Pic/Getty Images
The controversy concerning Rohit Sharma has left me wondering which aspect of it is more shocking. Is it the fact that captain Virat Kohli admitted to the confusion and lack of clarity over his premier limited overs batsman's injury, thereby exposing the BCCI's absolute disdain for anything that resembles a see through glass, or him saying to the media that he was clueless as to why Rohit didn't travel with the team to Australia?
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The first comment delighted me because for years the media has been harping on how BCCI keeps their affairs behind a high and thick wall and caring a rat's behind for whatever is said and written. Their doors have not been even half open for truth seekers.
Now, they have their captain saying - at the start of an important tour - that he was kept in the dark about the fitness of his limited overs cricket deputy.
This was, pardon the pun, a telling comment; a brave one and something that will be long-remembered.
Although the captain was referring to internal communication concerning Rohit's hamstring injury, it showed in good measure how bad the BCCI is in playing with a straight bat.
While Kohli deserves kudos for bringing up the confusion over Rohit, it was disappointing to hear him say, "We all thought he would be on that flight to Australia, which he wasn't. And, we had no information whatsoever on the reason on why he is not traveling with us." Kohli has been captaining the Test team for six years now and is seen as highly proactive on the field of play. What stopped him from being proactive in this case? What prevented him from calling chief selector Sunil Joshi or the convenor of the selection committee meeting to find out why Rohit was not among his fellow passengers on the flight to Australia? Doubtless, this shows the captain of India in poor light. And by the way, when are we going to hear the chairman of selectors speak?
All said and done, Kohli has spoken out about clarity and may his tribe increase. Voices can bring about some change in the way administrators function, so that all stakeholders don't feel short-changed.
That is why it was so good to hear Sunil Gavaskar say, in a post-IPL game show, that there should have been some clarity on Rohit's injury. Later, when it became a burning issue, ex-batting stars Gautam Gambhir and VVS Laxman expressed their displeasure over the lack of communication. Laxman told Star Sports: "In the first place he (Rohit Sharma) should have been selected and the communication gap is something which is disappointing.
"I am really surprised, because in this age of communication, where there are so many WhatsApp groups, there's usually a group mail which goes around, I'm sure (there is) a group between the team management, the chairman of the selection committee and the in-charge of the medical team of the BCCI. Usually, everything is updated to the team management and everyone is kept in the loop. So, I am not sure why was there a communication breakdown as far as this case is concerned and we are talking about two senior players."
The BCCI ought to learn this lesson from the Rohit Sharma issue: Being stingy with information on player injuries can be highly counter-productive.
Today, it's not only the print and electronic media that will call you out. There is the social media beast to deal with as well. And then, there are some former players who will not stop calling a spade a spade.
That the BCCI acted with supreme alacrity in response to Kohli's attack on the establishment and issued a statement to state the date of Rohit's fitness test (and also that Rohit rushed to Mumbai to be at the side of his sick father) established the fact that the men who run Indian cricket are reactive and not proactive.
It amazes me that the BCCI has not realised that sending out regular official updates cannot be a bad change to bring about instead of feeding selected media. One, it gives transparency a good name and it shows that you want to run a good ship.
At the moment the ship is sinking. Although the ship has served you well (meaning how well the Board organised domestic cricket over all these years), there are some holes that don't exactly make up for the smooth portions of the deck.
The Rohit Sharma issue is a blot on good governance and hopefully there will be closure within the working group for Indian cricket to move on. There is the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to be retained in Australia and the importance of that has no equal at the moment. It's an opportunity to prove that the 2018-19 triumph was not one-off.
India have to go with the tools they have. The Ravi Shastri-coached side may not look favourites especially after their surrender in the ODI series but cricket contests are won by those who make better use of a fresh guard.
Australia know what a bunch of cricketers with a take-no-quarter-and-give-none attitude can do. They may not fear India but there is respect for the opposition. The real contest starts on December 17.
mid-day's group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper
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