The Indian men’s cricket team is currently out on the tour of Australia, where they have impressed the spectators with some brilliant teamwork, as well as their resilient attitude against the Australian sledging. Even though things aren’t going well for them in the 2nd test as of now, Team India still has the upper hand over the Australians, owing to their first test victory at Adelaide.
Into this scenario, popular cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle tweeted about the controversial catch, which had unceremoniously dismissed the Indian skipper Virat Kohli when he looked all set to steer India out of trouble. He criticized the Indian skipper for his approach, with back to back tweets, as shown below :
I know there will be a lot of debate on the Kohli dismissal but it is critical to note that the law says there must be conclusive evidence to overturn the on-field umpire's decision. Kohli thought it bounced but historically those have been given out (more)
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 16, 2018
I have tweeted about why soft signals were introduced in the first place. Even fairly obvious outs were looking not out on replays. And so they had to go back to the on-field umpire
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 16, 2018
For those unaware, Virat Kohli was batting on an impressive score of 123, and India was on 251 with a loss of 6 wickets. It was then that Pat Cummins delivered a ball which forced Virat to take a risky shot, and it was caught by Peter Handscomb within no time. What made it controversial was the fact that Handscomb had caught the ball when it had almost touched the ground.
This controversial dismissal reminded many of the controversial series of 2007-08, where several Indian batsmen were wrongfully dismissed by umpires Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson on such dubious parameters. Not the one to take such dismissals lying down, Virat Kohli appealed for a review, but in vain. It was for this very attitude that Harsha Bhogle criticized Virat Kohli, in a fashion that not many fans would love to appreciate.
However, one man came up surprisingly to defend Virat Kohli’s aggressive approach. Columnist and owner of ‘ThePrint’, Shekhar Gupta, came to Virat Kohli’s defense, posting the following tweet in reply to Harsha Bhogle’s criticism :
No Harsha, you’re wrong. And once in a while, pls do risk annoying the Aussies. Indian cricketers, post-Ganguly, stopped being intimidated by the Aussies. Not Indian commentators yet. And don’t worry, BCCI’s power is throttled for now. But it will be back. https://t.co/jrS0q9tKdg
— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) December 16, 2018
In this tweet, not only did Shekhar Gupta lambast Harsha Bhogle for his criticism of Virat Kohli’s approach, but he also advised him to stop being bogged down by the Australian tactics, reminding him of how India stopped being affected by the Australian sledging ever since Saurav Ganguly and his team last toured Australia in 2003-04.
Surprised by Shekhar’s tweet, Harsha Bhogle tried to come up with a weak defense, as he posted the following tweet :
Hi Shekhar, I have merely explained the situation and the law to those that may not be aware, which is what I assume you expect from good journalists. And since I have known you for 28 years, I'll assume the last 2 lines came out of emotion and not more uncomfortable thoughts. https://t.co/gdW6pSwMM3
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 16, 2018
However, Shekhar was is no mood for fun, as he posted the following tweet :
You know me well. Incorrigibly ultra-nationalist when it comes to sport…
That soft signal was scandalous
I do believe though, that Indian cricket commentariat hasn’t evolved Indian cricket…SC’s strangling of BCCI & ruling through a ‘junta’ has diminished India’s clout https://t.co/GseTCYfs5D
— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) December 16, 2018
This is not the first time that Shekhar Gupta has surprised people with his rational tweets. Criticized otherwise for being ultra critical of the current NDA government, while sporting a soft corner for the Nehru Gandhi dynasty, Shekhar Gupta does have his fair share for rational tweets. Who can forget the way he lambasted the Congress social media head ‘Divya Spandana’ for insulting PM Modi’s visit to the Statue of Unity?
Interestingly, quite recently, he also shared posts on Twitter that lambasted Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi for his ‘racist views’ on the Black Africans, such as one as shown below :
Why Ghanaians are removing Gandhi statues in the middle of the night
Rama Lakshmi @RamaNewDelhi writes: https://t.co/mJDMfHG11o
— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) December 16, 2018
As such, it is rather welcoming that Shekhar Gupta had schooled Harsha Bhogle for being ultra defensive in his approach towards the controversial decision, and we sincerely hope that he keeps posting such sane tweets more regularly.
