Dont intend to harm career: Saha refuses to reveal identity of journalist

Veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman
Saha said he will not reveal the
identity of the journalist, who threatened him for not giving an interview, to
the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Also Read: Journalist insults Wriddihman Saha for ignoring calls for interview, Virender Sehwag reacts

“After
all of my contributions to Indian cricket..this is what I face from a so called
“Respected” journalist! This is where the journalism has gone,” Saha
tweeted late on Saturday evening after he was dropped from the Indian Test
squad for the two-match Sri Lanka home series. The 37-year-old cricketer shared
a screenshot of messages sent by a journalist, who threatened Saha for
allegedly ignoring his call for an interview.

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On
Monday, BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal told PTI that the board would ask Wriddhiman
to reveal the identity of the reporter and the context in which those messages
were sent.

Also Read: Dravid suggested retirement: Wriddhiman Saha lashes out at coach on India snub

“Yes,
we will ask Wriddhiman about his tweet and what is the real incident that has
happened. We need to know if he was threatened and also the background and
context of his tweet. I can’t say anything more. The secretary (Jay Shah) will
certainly speak to Wriddhiman,” Dhumal said.

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However,
Saha refused to reveal the name of the journalist, saying that his purpose was
to expose the act on social media and not harm anyone’s career.

Also Read: Everything changed so fast: Saha hits out at BCCI President Sourav Ganguly

“I
haven’t received any communication from the BCCI yet. If they ask me to reveal
the name (of the journalist), I would tell them it was never my intention to
harm somebody’s career, to pull a person down. That’s why I didn’t reveal the
name in my tweet. That’s not the teaching of my parents. The main purpose of my
tweet was to expose the fact that there’s someone in the media who does such
things, disrespecting a player’s wish,” he told The Indian Express.

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“It
wasn’t fair, which I wanted to tell through my tweets. He who has done it knows
it very well. I posted those tweets because I didn’t want the players to face
such things. I wanted to convey the message that what has been done was wrong
and no one else should do it again,” he added.

After
Saha shared the screenshot of the message, he received support from the
cricketing fraternity, with former head coach Ravi Shastri, Virender Sehwag,
Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha, who is presently the Indian Cricketers
Association’s (ICA) representative on the IPL Governing Council, criticising
the incident.

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“Ojha
called me and said, ‘I won’t ask you about anything which is personal. If you
feel that you want to go further on this or pursue the matter legally, the BCCI
would support you’. I told him that at the moment I wasn’t willing and gave him
the reasons. He responded to it saying, it was completely my decision,” he
said.