Harsha Bhogle was controversially removed from TV punditry in 2016.
Noted commentator and presenter Harsha Bhogle’s time away from the broadcasting studios and commentary booth’s could end very soon. Bhogle has spent nearly a year in exile after his comments in the box wasn’t well received by some members of the Indian cricket team and officials within the BCCI. But with BCCI under new administration, the previous concerns with Bhogle are unlikely to find the same pressure. With that, Harsha could come out and be inside the studios for the upcoming edition of IPL 10.
As per a report by Mumbai Mirror, barring a few late hiccups from now and the start of the tournament on April 5, Bhogle’s return to the studio is all but done even if he doesn’t get to hold the microphone as a commentator. Besides the change in power equation within the BCCI, another factor that tips things in Harsha’s favour are the lack of options for official TV broadcaster Sony Entertainment with the likes of Ramiz Raja, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar unavailable to be part of the event due to the strained India-Pakistan relations.
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The report also states that the negotiations between the two parties have been going on for some time but no official contract has been signed yet. Having said that, it is more of a formality at this juncture. One of the the reasons why no official confirmation has been to the effect has been to avoid any derailment in the decision-making.
The story and the controversy came to the fore last year when Harsha’s criticism of the Indian team wasn’t well taken by actor Amitabh Bachchan who indirectly took a shot at Bhogle. This tweet was subsequently re-tweeted by former Indian captain MS Dhoni and complaints were made to BCCI by Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay. Bhogle was then cut at a late stage from the IPL 9 as well despite being part of its early production videos and promotion. He then had said that it was done without any clear reason: “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’.”
While Bhogle wants to commentate, as per the report, he can’t do so at the time with the production rights held by BCCI (technically IMG) . Other commentators on the panel for IPL 10 include Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, L Sivaramakrishnan and Sanjay Manjrekar from India with other options from other countries.
T 2184 – With all due respects, it would be really worthy of an Indian commentator to speak more about our players than others all the time.
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) 23 March 2016
More on Bhogle and his return, or no return, to the TV studios will be made clear in the near future.
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