IPL broadcaster Star Sports has addressed Indian captain Rohit Sharma's accusation of privacy breach, firmly denying the airing of any personal conversations involving him.
IPL broadcaster Star Sports has denied allegations of airing the audio of a private 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, featuring Rohit and KKR assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, where Rohit was allegedly seen contemplating his future at Mumbai Indians, went viral on May 11. KKR later removed the video from its social media pages.
On May 16, Rohit was seen chatting with Dhawal Kulkarni before MI's match against Lucknow Super Giants. The opener asked the broadcaster to turn off the audio when he noticed the cameras were again directed at him.
On Sunday, Rohit accused the channel of airing a private conversation, but Star Sports denied the claim in a statement.
The lives of cricketers have become so intrusive that cameras are now recording every step and conversation we are having in privacy with our friends and colleagues, at training or on match days.
Despite asking Star Sports to not record my conversation, it was and was also then…
"The clip, taken during a training session on May 16 at Wankhede Stadium, for which Star Sports had authorised 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 solely on views and engagement will one day break the trust between fans, cricketers, and cricket. Let better sense prevail," Rohit said on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma fires on Star Sports for recording personal conversations.🔥
SHAME ON STAR SPORTS 😡 pic.twitter.com/1G4tNSw9Ow
The channel emphasised 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," it stated.
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