India Test discard Wriddhiman Saha has said he would not reveal the identity of the “respected journalist” who allegedly threatened him on WhatsApp for not agreeing to an interview.
Saha though could still face questions from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which said it would try to convince the wicketkeeper-batsman to name the journalist to prevent such occurrences in the future.
“I was hurt and offended. I thought not to tolerate such kind of behaviour and didn’t want anyone to go through these kind of bullying. I decided I will go out and expose the chat in public eye, but not his/her name,” Saha tweeted on Tuesday evening.
“My nature isn’t such that I will harm anyone to the extent of ending someone’s career. So on grounds of humanity looking at his/her family, I am not exposing the name for the time being. But if any such repetition happens, I will not hold back.
“I thank each and everyone who has shown support and extended their willingness to help. My gratitude,” Saha said.
Sources told The Telegraph that while it was entirely up to Saha to name the journalist concerned, the BCCI will not back out of its stance to probe the circumstances which led to the cricketer receiving a series of insulting WhatsApp messages shortly after being dropped from the squad for the two Tests versus Sri Lanka.
The fact that Saha is a centrally-contracted player has led to the assumption that he may be compelled to disclose the name to the BCCI.
The BCCI is concerned that such let-offs could encourage others to repeat similar offences in the future. It also wants to dig deep into finding out if any other player too has been at the receiving end of such “torture”. It plans to impose strict measures, which will allow its contracted players to interact only during media conferences.
“There could also be allegations that the journalist used his influence to prevent Saha from spilling the beans. We will go ahead with the plan to question Saha and get to the bottom of this mess,” a senior BCCI official said.
No date has been finalised for the hearing but secretary Jay Shah is expected to speak to Saha.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag urged Saha to come clear on the offender. “Dear Wriddhi, it’s not your nature to harm others and you are a wonderful guy. But to prevent such harm from happening to anyone else in the future, it’s important for you to name him,” Sehwag tweeted.
Several other aspects have also come to the notice of the BCCI. There have been allegations of multi-crore endorsements being facilitated by certain people with vested interests or a player bagging lucrative media assignments because of their proximity to a certain individual.
The Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA) has “strongly condemned” the threatening message sent to Saha. ICA president Ashok Malhotra also spoke to Saha and expressed his concern at the turn of events.
“We acknowledge the fact that the media plays a very important role both in the growth of our game and the players, but there’s always a line that must never be crossed.
“What has happened in Saha’s case is totally unacceptable and we call for the respective press organisations to take up the matter and ensure such things are not repeated,” said Malhotra.
“At the ICA, our foremost concern is the welfare of cricketers, past and present, and we cannot accept such behaviour from anyone, let alone a journalist. We are fully with Saha and request him to reveal the journalist’s name,” he added.
