Harsha Bhogle opens up on his sacking following the Twitter fiasco

Harsha Bhogle speaks up

The Indian voice of cricket, Harsha Bhogle has opened up about his sacking during the World T-20 last year. He also spoke about his conservation with Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bacchan. Harsha was reportedly sacked after he criticized the Indian team on Twitter. The Sportsrush recounts the entire incident!

Harsha Bhogle is an extremely popular figure among the Indian masses. Millions of people follow him on various social media platforms to hear his astute views about the game. He has been writing columns for some of the major publications as well in addition to fulfiling his duties from the commentary box.

What had happened?

During the India-Bangladesh match in last year’s World T-20, Mr. Bacchan was not too happy with Harsha’s criticism about the Indian team. He tweeted out his subtle displeasure which was then retweeted by MS Dhoni. This created quite a stir and what many believe, is the reason behind Harsha Bhogle’s unceremonious exit.

In an interview with Economic Times, he remarked that it’s good not to have too many friends in the Indian team. “I do miss the generation that’s gone. Sachin [Tendulkar], Rahul [Dravid], Anil [Kumble], Sourav [Ganguly], Srinath, [VVS] Laxman. It was a beautiful generation,” where I never had to worry about what I’m saying.

Harsha’s interview with the Economic Times

Clearly snubbed after having shown the door by BCCI, Harsha recounted a story with former captain Sourav Ganguly. “I could be completely frank, to the extent that Sourav on air asked me my opinion on something. Seeing my reluctance, he said, `How many World Cups have you covered? Go ahead, I want to know what you think’.”

Moreover, he was sacked without being provided any clarification. “No one told me what the matter was. Suppose I was told I violated a broadcasting ethic, even that would have been fine. But nobody could look me in the face and tell me, `This is the reason’. It’s been the biggest learning experience of my career. ”

Recounting Mr. Amitabh Bacchan’s tweet

Also, recounting Mr. Amitabh Bacchan’s tweet, he said, “I sent him a DM [Direct Message], saying how for the past 40 years I have admired him.” He received a delayed response from the superstar and without revealing the contents, Harsha just said, “It was polite.”

Harsha Bhogle would go on to clarify his stand. “What I did explain was that on the Hindi telecast, we were very India-centric, though not biased. This was because the telecast was going only to this market. But we couldn’t do that with the English telecast, as it was going to various countries.”

“In the past, Indian listeners would get angry when foreign commentators did not speak enough about the Indian team. We cannot be like that to the others.”he added, Harsha Bhogle also criticised the inherent mentality in the cricketing fraternity today. “The image created in our cricket is if you haven’t played, you can’t live,” he sighed.