Harsha Bhogle responds to Amitabh Bachchan, MS Dhoni’s criticism of Indian commentators

MS Dhoni was in agreement with Amitabh Bachchan over their focus on teams other than India. (Source: Reuters)

After India’s sensational one-run win over Bangladesh in Bengaluru, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan was upset with how the commentators chose to focus on the other players (Bangladesh) rather than on their own players (India).

His criticism of the commentators was shared by others too who took to microblogging website Twitter to air their views and discuss with Bachchan Sr on what has become of the broadcasting scene.

This started the whole episode:

T 2184 – With all due respects, it would be really worthy of an Indian commentator to speak more about our players than others all the time.

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) 23 March 2016

And others such as Vajir Singh also chimed in in agreement.

@vajir I am so happy that you agree .. fed up ho gaye yaar .. !!

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) 23 March 2016

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@raj20k yes !! jab dekho unki tareef karte rehte hain .. out unka batsman, aur uske liye dukh vyakt kar rahe hain .. arre .. hamari bowling

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) 23 March 2016

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@gauravchawla cool .. but I mean its the limit yaar .. the way our players and our team always gets the wrong end .. this is just not on ..

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) 23 March 2016

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He also concurred with Indian Express journalist Harneet Singh

@Harneetsin thank you .. i mean its just so annoying and frustrating .. just watch how other commentators of their own team commentate ..

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) 23 March 2016

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@vmittra not just lack lustre .. simply biased .. always speaking and praising opposition .. !!

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) 23 March 2016

Making things interesting, MS Dhoni himself replied with a simple, “Nothing to add”. One could even spot MS’ irritation during the press conference as he hit out a journalist.

Nothing to add http://t.co/8rBel3vw4o

— Mahendra Singh Dhoni (@msdhoni) 23 March 2016

BCCI treasurer Anirudh Choudhary also added in his two cents on the discussion in praise of Virender Sehwag.

@msdhoni @SrBachchan that’s why it’s fun listening to @virendersehwag who speaks about our players with positivity and Viruism :)

— Anirudh Chaudhry (@AnirudhChaudhry) 24 March 2016

This started the process of guessing who Bachchan Sr was targeting in his comment. There were guesses of Sunil Gavaskar and Sanjay Manjrekar – both of which were quashed by the man himself.

@AnthonyGoveas no not him not Sunil .. !!

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) 23 March 2016

@VikasAgarwalll @AnthonyGoveas no not him either ..

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) 23 March 2016

With the criticism raging like a bush fire, commentator Harsha Bhogle and part of the broadcast team took to Facebook to clear the air on the issue. He decided to do so without any finger pointing by the Bollywood legend.

Bhogle also shared that he had sent a direct message to Amitabh Bachchan to explain the situation in the ‘box’ and the need to not focus on India players alone or even primarily.

He clarified that the English feed is broadcast across the globe – not just to the Indian audience – hence the need of staying objective and focusing on both teams – not just India.

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