How organisers of any cricket event can take the media for a ride was starkly evident at a press conference starring six top cricketers, including India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, here on Wednesday.Presuming that the 150-odd media contingent just would not boycott despite a veiled threat, those who were given the task of organising the press conference by Reebok did not even deem it fit to explain the delay to the large audience.
The event was scheduled to start at 9 am — advanced by an hour only on Tuesday, apparently because some players had to catch an early flight out of Delhi — but it eventually started only at 10.35 am!
After getting no word from the organisers for about an hour, the media started getting restless and mildly threatened to boycott the event. It was only after this that a lady and the master of ceremonies appeared to reluctantly utter the first words about the reasons for the delay.
Dhoni’s flight to Delhi was late, he said. But there was still no regret and, clearly, no remorse. Of course, none of the players apologised.
The media is also partly to be blamed as they didn’t execute what they threatened to do: boycott the press conference.
“Can anyone of us afford to boycott given the high stakes in the game today?” was someone’s pertinent remark. This, then, is the stage cricket craze has reached in India — and, imagine, the World Cup hasn’t even started.
0 comments:
Post a Comment