New Delhi: In what will come as a surprise to cricket lovers, the most famous voice of Indian cricket - Harsha Bhogle - will not feature in the list of commentators for the 2016 Indian Premier League.
According to a report on the Sunday Express, the veteran commentator was informed about the termination of his IPL contract just a week back.
The 54-year-old has been associated with the cash-rich league since its inception and even hosted the Season 9 draft auction.
Bhogle was also part of promotional videos for the tour and even had his flight booked by the production house.
While Sony Network is the official broadcast partner for the IPL, it is in fact the BCCI that decides on all matters related to the tournament’s production.
Would have been nice to be part of @IPL again. Was in fact looking forward to it. Favourite tournament. Hope #IPL9 is a blockbuster.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 9, 2016
@nihalmoidu @IPL I don't know. That is the truth.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 9, 2016
“When deciding the commentators, we take feedback from everyone. We monitor social media reactions on commentators, and also take inputs from players,” a senior BCCI official told The Sunday Express.
During the ICC World T20, Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan's remark criticizing Indian commentators garnered a lot of attention on social media network. Big B's opinion was also endorses by MS Dhoni.
Bachchan however went on to clarify that he wasn't referring to either Sunil Gavaskar or Sanjay Manjrekar.
Assuming it was he who was being referred to by the legendary actor, Bhogle went on write a detailed post about on his Facebook page about the different requirements of Hindi and English commentary.
Board members also informed the newspaper about another reason that could be behind Bhogle's ouster.
During India’s WorldT20 game against New Zealand at Nagpur, Bhogle is reported to have had a heated argument with an official from the Vidharbha Cricket Association.
“No one told me anything. I have not been formally told of the reason even now. All I have been told is ‘it is a BCCI management decision’,” Bhogle said.
At Nagpur, Hindi and English commentary boxes were separated by the president’s enclosure. Since the door of the VIP box was closed, bilingual commentators were forced to come down several stairs and climb up again to switch boxes for their stints.
Bhogle wanted the door opened, which led to him having a heated exchange with a VCA official. The news of this incident Nagpur-based BCCI president Shashank Manohar.
Some close to the board believe this could have triggered cancelation of Bhogle's contract.
“Working on a tight deadline, because of running around, I was at times panting as I went on air. This was because of that shut door. Even if it was the Nagpur incident, no one heard my part of the story,” said Bhogle.
Some commentators have also spoken about how Indian players did not like it when they were criticized.
