Are Dhoni and Amitabh bachchan behind ouster of Harsha Bhogle

• Everyone loves commentary of Harsha Bhogle. He is the man who was once an outsider in the cricketing world but has utilised his opportunity to become an indispensable part of cricket.

  On the opening day of IPL 9, people were in for a shock as they didn’t hear the voice of their beloved Harsha Bhogle. Later they found that he was ousted from commentary panel and BCCI has terminated his contract.

  On 10th morning, social media was abuzz with the rumours that Amitabh Bachchan and Dhoni was the reason behind his ouster. It is to be noted that after India-Bangladesh match, Amitabh Bachchan criticised a commentator, which is believed to be Harsha Bhogle, for biased commentary in favour of foreign players. Dhoni too endorsed his opinion of by retweeting his criticism for commentators. Later on, Hasha Bhogle in his Facebook post put forward his views on the biased commentary issue. Now, renowned journalist and social media celebs are blaming Amitabh Bachchan and Dhoni for the ouster of Harsha Bhogle from IPL9.

  Let’s analyse if these rumours are true. Dhoni may be captain of Indian team but everyone knows that his place in the side is being questioned for last one and half year. He is surviving by his performances and not by the support of BCCI. After the exit of N. Srinivasan, Dhoni doesn’t enjoy the power and the clout that he used to have over BCCI few years back. The new BCCI administration has more detractors of Dhoni than his supporters, so how come journalists and social media celebrities are assuming that he has enough clout remained in BCCI that he can diktat the removal of one of the prominent voices of Indian cricket. This thought is laughable to say least.

  Amitabh Bachchan is one of the most passionate celebrity supporters of Indian cricket. He tweets after each victory of team India, backs players when the team loses and urges his followers to do same. It was quite natural for him, as a passionate fan, to express his frustration over commentators going gaga over foreign players, even when Indian players have won the match by remaining calm under pressure. Taking that incident as proof behind Harsha Bhogle’s ouster is laughable. Amitabh Bachchan is one of the most powerful men in India and has his reach to the top most level of decision makers in India but does he really have that clout in BCCI too? The answer would be no because BCCI is the most powerful body in India and is out of the reach for even Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. But let us assume that he has the reach to the top decision makers of BCCI, question is, will he really approach them for the ouster of a commentator because he didn’t like his commentary? The answer would again be no. But again let us assume that he really approached BCCI for the ouster of Harsha Bhogle, the question now is, will BCCI really ouster one of the most loved voices of Indian cricket for this silly reason? The answer would be an emphatic no.

  The question arises then why are social media celebs and some journalist are blaming Amitabh Bachchan and Dhoni for it. The real reason is that they are riled enough by both of them. Dhoni was vocal in support of Indian army when Indian Army was dragged in the issue of Kanahiya Kumar of JNU fame. He tweeted

  “As v have this debate on freedom of speech our forces r making sure v stay in position to keep debating.”

  This statement riled many journalist and social media celebs. They painted Dhoni as an old player who is trying to win support through his patriotic tweets. They deliberately forgot that Dhoni is a part of Indian Army and has every right to tweet in support of Indian Army.

  The History between Amitabh Bachchan and journalists goes long back in time. They are after him since the day he decided to promote Gujarat Tourism. His closeness with current PM Modi has been irking journalists so they don’t miss any opportunity to target him. Amitabh Bachchan also riled journalist by not supporting their famous intolerance campaign by remaining quiet. Dhoni and Amitabh Bachchan are targeted by social media celebs and Journalists because of their Pro India statement that they regularly give and a section of journalist doesn’t like any celebrity taking  pro-India stand. However, these same people propagated anti-India statement on account of freedom of expression.

  Now coming to the issue of the ouster of Harsha Bhogle, Tweets of Amitabh Bachchan and Dhoni might have created a social media backlash by their tweets but that can’t be the sole reason for the ouster of Harsha Bhogle. There is more to this issue than what meets the eyes.  One reason that is flying on social media is Harsha Bhogle’s alleged heated argument with Vidharva Cricket Association official during India New Zealand T20 match in World Cup and people should remember that current BCCI president belongs to VCA. Another reason could have been that Harsha Bhogle was vocal in his criticism about the way pitches have been prepared for T20 World Cup. His vocal criticism of pitch or something else that he said during world cup which might hurt inflated ego of BCCI and led to his ouster.

  Whatever be the reason, ouster of Harsha Bhogle can’t be justified. He is one of the saner voices in cricket and brings out nuances of the game of cricket by asking valid questions from experts. He is much better than some of the crap commentators that we heard during the 1st match if IPL9.  It would be better that some sanity prevails in BCCI and we get to hear Harsha Bhogle in coming matches.