Indian Cricketers’ Association issues statement condemning ‘threatening’ against Wriddhiman Saha

The Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA) issued a statement on Tuesday, condemning the “threatening message” sent to veteran wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha by a senior Indian journalist, while welcoming the BCCI’s decision to investigate the issue.

“We recognize that the media plays a very important role in both the growth of our game and the players, but there is always a line that must never be crossed. What happened in Saha’s case is totally unacceptable and we call on the relevant press organizations to look into the matter and ensure that such things do not happen again,” said ICA President Ashok Malhotra.

ICA strongly condemns “threats”. #WriddhimanSaha!#BCCI #IndianCricketTeam pic.twitter.com/TbgUVPZlt6

— Indian Cricket Players’ Association (@IndCricketAssoc) February 22, 2022

“We would offer Saha our full support at this point. No player should face such ‘threats’ from anyone in the media or elsewhere not reappear,” said Hitesh Majumdar, the ICA Secretary.

“Any interaction between a player and the media must always be voluntary.”

Saha, 37, who was dropped from the India team, had taken to Twitter to claim that a “distinguished” journalist had struck an aggressive tone after refusing to grant him an interview. “After all my contributions to Indian cricket…this is what I experience from a so-called ‘distinguished’ journalist! Journalism has disappeared here,” Saha tweeted.

However, Saha has stated that he will not reveal the name of the journalist who threatened him, even if asked by the BCCI. Following his tweet, former head coach Ravi Shastri and former stars such as Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh came to his support and asked him to provide the journalist’s name.