Sometime ago I wrote about how ESPN Cricinfo, despite still being the best single sport website in my opinion is showing the tendency to slip into mainstream media tendencies of sensationalism. Now they seem to be taking on another facet of it, namely flogging the same issue to death as evidenced by the repeated focus on the Rohit Sharma/Manoj Tiwary debate.
First, after the second ODI, Aakash Chopra (who seems to have let the positive response from readers to his initial writings go to his head and churns out relative drivel these days) writes about Rohit Sharma's temperament and how it lets him down. Then, in the build-up to the third ODI, Abhishek Purohit writes a feature about the two and who should be picked. He then follows it up with a re-emphasizing of the issue in his write-up on the pre-match press conference from Gautam Gambhir, indicating relatively clearly Cricinfo's stance that Sharma should be dropped and Tiwary picked. Fair enough, editors should have an opinion. That's not the end of it however, as in the pre-match build up to the final ODI, a big part of the focus of the pre-match conference again seems to be, yes Rohit Sharma's poor form. Yes, we hear you Cricinfo, you want Rohit benched and Manoj picked. But no, post the final ODI (where surely the big news is how India continue their comprehensive ODI domination of Sri Lanka), we have the feature being about Manoj Tiwary's claim for a permanent spot over you know who. And not satisfied with that, the build-up to the T20 game also has another piece on Tiwary's bench days. At least they mention Rohit Sharma only once in the article.
Apart from decent writing, the only thing I (and I'm sure I'm not alone in this) ask for from journalists is balanced coverage. And yet in this case, not one piece or interview that talks about Rohit Sharma and what he's going through? No one likes to fail personally and potentially let his team down, especially a young man of 25 who's clearly insecure at the moment. Maybe the folks at Cricinfo tried talking to him but from the coverage, it clearly doesn't seem like it. At least, Harsha Bhogle brings some sanity to proceedings and highlights the main problem that Rohit Sharma seems to be having (and nary a mention of Tiwary). The editorial staff at Cricinfo could learn a few things from his experience and wisdom, just like Rohit Sharma could learn a thing or two from his seniors.
First, after the second ODI, Aakash Chopra (who seems to have let the positive response from readers to his initial writings go to his head and churns out relative drivel these days) writes about Rohit Sharma's temperament and how it lets him down. Then, in the build-up to the third ODI, Abhishek Purohit writes a feature about the two and who should be picked. He then follows it up with a re-emphasizing of the issue in his write-up on the pre-match press conference from Gautam Gambhir, indicating relatively clearly Cricinfo's stance that Sharma should be dropped and Tiwary picked. Fair enough, editors should have an opinion. That's not the end of it however, as in the pre-match build up to the final ODI, a big part of the focus of the pre-match conference again seems to be, yes Rohit Sharma's poor form. Yes, we hear you Cricinfo, you want Rohit benched and Manoj picked. But no, post the final ODI (where surely the big news is how India continue their comprehensive ODI domination of Sri Lanka), we have the feature being about Manoj Tiwary's claim for a permanent spot over you know who. And not satisfied with that, the build-up to the T20 game also has another piece on Tiwary's bench days. At least they mention Rohit Sharma only once in the article.
Apart from decent writing, the only thing I (and I'm sure I'm not alone in this) ask for from journalists is balanced coverage. And yet in this case, not one piece or interview that talks about Rohit Sharma and what he's going through? No one likes to fail personally and potentially let his team down, especially a young man of 25 who's clearly insecure at the moment. Maybe the folks at Cricinfo tried talking to him but from the coverage, it clearly doesn't seem like it. At least, Harsha Bhogle brings some sanity to proceedings and highlights the main problem that Rohit Sharma seems to be having (and nary a mention of Tiwary). The editorial staff at Cricinfo could learn a few things from his experience and wisdom, just like Rohit Sharma could learn a thing or two from his seniors.
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