NEW DELHI: IPL broadcaster Star Sports on Monday denied airing the audio of any personal conversation involving Rohit Sharma after the Indian captain accused the channel of breaching his privacy despite his requests to stop recording.
A video shared by Kolkata Knight Riders on May 11, featuring Rohit and KKR assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, showed Rohit allegedly contemplating his future with the Mumbai Indians. On May 16, ahead of MI’s fixture against Lucknow Super Giants, Rohit was seen chatting with Dhawal Kulkarni and requested the broadcaster to turn off the audio when he noticed the cameras were again directed towards him.
Rohit accused the channel of airing a private conversation, but Star Sports denied the allegation in a statement. “The clip, taken during a training session on May 16 at Wankhede Stadium, for which Star Sports had authorized access, momentarily showed the senior player in conversation with his friends on the sidelines. No audio from this conversation was either recorded or broadcast. The clip, which only showed the senior player requesting for the audio of his conversation to not be recorded, got featured in Star Sports’ live coverage of pre-match preparations and lacked editorial relevance beyond this,” the channel stated.
Rohit had called for restraint while recording on-field moments. “The need to get exclusive content and focus only on views and engagement will one day break the trust between the fans, cricketers, and cricket. Let better sense prevail,” Rohit said on Sunday.
Star Sports reiterated its commitment to protecting players’ privacy. “Respect for players’ privacy while bringing fans moments of intense action and preparations sits at the core of this ethos, which the broadcaster remains committed to,” the channel stated.
