Yellow Journalism, Green Cricket

In the old days, there were only two 24-hour news channels: BBC and CNN, and since they rarely concerned themselves with news in India, it was as good as not having a news channel at all. Today, I browse through NDTV, Headlines Today, DD News (whose standard is surprisingly right up there with the others), Times Now, etc. Note, I said etcetera. There are simply too many news channels, and they are all jostling for eyeballs and wondering how to fill their time slots when nothing newsworthy is going on.

This is probably the reason why we are seeing irresponsible yellow journalism in this time and age. I've had exposure to amateur journalism in school and college - enough to experience and understand first hand the importance of responsible journalism. Hence, I was shocked to see a segment on Headlines Today, a "sting operation" called "Operation Clean Bowled". Essentially, the reporter spoke to all the four zonal selectors with a hidden camera, asking questions about the relations between the Indian players and the coach, as well as among themselves.

First, the selectors have a right to be told that they are being filmed. They knew they were being interviewed, not filmed.

Second, anything the selectors have to say about "factions" within the cricket team and schisms between the coach and some players amounts to hearsay as they are not in the team themselves.

Third, Bhupinder Singh was the only selector who was elucidating on these things, and he seemed to be too drunk and too peeved to be taken seriously. The words of the other selectors were clearly being exaggerated and twisted out of context.

Fourth, any such opinion that is deleterious to the reputation of another person cannot be reported without their reply or rebuttal. The Headlines Today team did not even bother to ask any player of the Indian team what they thought of these comments, before broadcasting them.

It is clear to me that the channel had already decided to be as sensationalist as possible, without worrying about little things like truth, ethics or the feelings of the cricket-loving populace. In my opinion, there is only one thing that absolves their effort partially: that the Indian cricket team has been doing so badly that it had such slander coming.

I was in the US when the world cup was being played, and I didn't get a chance to watch it. However, I have watched the Bangladesh tour thus far and I am simply amazed at the drop in standard of the team. For example, one of the first deliveries I saw in the first match was a nicked delivery that flew between Dhoni and Sehwag at first slip. Both players stood rock still, expecting the other to dive for the ball. Admittedly, it was a half chance no matter who dived for it: but the point is, they should both have dived for it. The first slip stands a foot or two behind the keeper and they are not going to collide anyway. There were several more instances of such unprofessional fielding on that day, and if it weren't for some intelligent batting by Dhoni and Karthik, as well as some poor fielding by the Bangladeshi side, we would have lost the game. In fact, the Indian team is winning only because the Bangladeshis are a weak and inexperienced side. Against any other decent opposition, we would come a cropper playing this level of cricket.

Think about it. Karthik needs to work on that pull shot. Yuvraj seems to be having a technical problem with his high backlift, giving tame catches whenever the ball stops on the pitch a little bit. Sehwag still doesn't know the meaning of rotating the strike. Jaffer cannot even get off the mark. Even Sachin got out today playing a cross-batted pseudo-sweep slog off a delivery that was begging to be hit straight down the ground. It is ironic that Dhoni's ice-hockey style batting has been more effective than anyone else's.

Since the superb performance by the Indian team in the 2003 world cup, this is the first time that I am really watching a full series, and the contrast is jarring. There is a serious drop in the standard of the game in all three areas: batting, fielding and bowling in that order of severity. The Indian team really needs to get its act together before the England Tour.

Cheers
Prashanth.