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Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma, who announced his sudden retirement from Test cricket on Wednesday, May 7, blasted the Indian commentators during a candid interview with Vimal Kumar, one of the senior sports journalists, on his YouTube channel. The 38-year-old stated that the Indian commentators are focused on creating controversy, adding “masala”, and singling out a player to talk about them only, apart from stating that their quality is poorer than some of the peers from other nations and their criticism is “agenda-driven”.
One of the most striking qualities about Rohit Sharma, not just only as a player, but as a person, is his laid back nature, taking everything in stride both on and off the field. But with him going after the Indian commentators in such a big way, it does tell a story about how cricket commentary in India has gone down quite considerably in franchise and international matches, which isn’t a good thing for the fans watching the game either.
While speaking to Vimal Kumar on his YouTube channel, Rohit Sharma shared his in-depth point of view about how the Indian cricket commentators have let themselves down. He was quoted as saying, as per India Today, “You guys are focused on creating controversy, on blowing up news. The quality of journalism has gone down. Earlier, conversations would revolve around cricket. Now, it's all about getting views, likes, and making more people read your articles. Very little is written or spoken about the game itself. Tactics, analysis - it's all missing.”
When we go to Australia, we hear their commentary and the difference in quality is vast: Rohit Sharma
“When there's a match on, we watch it on TV. But listen to how commentators speak these days. When we go to Australia, we hear their commentary and the difference in quality is vast. Here, it's so disappointing - and I'm being very honest. It seems like they just want to single out a player and keep talking about him or her. It's very disappointing,” he added.
After talking about the downward trend in Indian cricket commentary in comparison to the overseas nations, calling it a disappointing thing, Rohit Sharma talked about how the fans don’t only want “masala” on the live broadcast. He remarked, “There are so many people who want to know about the game. Why do they need masala? They are true cricket lovers. I know there's this belief nowadays that fans want masala, but there are also those who want to understand the game. For instance, they want to know why someone's form has dipped, what he's doing wrong. They want that insight. Don't talk about personal stuff. Yes, you have a platform to speak, but that doesn't mean you can say anything. Respect the players.”
“Yes, things have sometimes gone out of our hands and we haven't performed well. We fully deserve criticism for that. Yes, we didn't do well against New Zealand at home - so yes, criticise us. But there's a way to criticise people. I think here, it's agenda-driven criticism. That's not likeable,” Rohit Sharma concluded.
