Dhoni vs media : Dhoni pissed at media

[Don Sharma]

Um, I will always support MI. Chennai fans are too busy complaining about why Dhoni is anti-tamil and is producing "obstacles" for a fellow Indian to progress. Who the **** wants to be associated with that?

Not everyone apparently:((

[DomainK]

Indian media's so called freedom needs to be checked. There should be some control on the BS they are producing.

[flamy]

And it's happening now. They are bending the rules perfectly. Anyone remember that offside field :D

[Chandan]

Yup. I am so thrilled about this. My respect for the team and Dhoni has grown tenfold (if that is really possible, since I've always been a Dhoni fanboy :P). Indian media is the filthiest vilest piece of **** one will ever find on a piece of paper (or the web) - with Hindu being the only exception. No integrity, no sense of duty. Trying to sell one's product is well and good but not at the cost of others' lives, and the media is probably the biggest villain for any celebrity in India. It is pathetic. I hope channels like the Times Now, CNN IBN, Star News, Aaj Tak can go to hell, and never return - please.

You are worried about only these channels. Just see what the print media is saying and that too a reputed site as ESPN-STAR: Dhoni has shot himself in the foot Agitated that he was, Indian skipper MS Dhoni was almost fumbling for words when he faced the media with his teammates. The words came out of his mouth in staccato without as much as a greeting or announcement of intention nor did he bother to apologise to the local English media who were simply caught in a crossfire and missed the quotes for their reports. Dhoni's behaviour was out of turn. Usually the one to stay calm at all times, and play to his strength, the Indian skipper had virtually sought a showdown with an opponent for whom he has no time. Dhoni has often viewed media as a nuisance which ought to have no role to play between him and his duty as captain of the national side. He does his job, scores runs, plucks catches and takes decision on the field. With barely concealed contempt for the fourth estate, Dhoni's latest gesture pits him against a faceless rival who is sensitive to any attack on its freedom or access to news or newsmakers. A few, and not everyone, had speculated upon his relationship with Sehwag. But Dhoni's statement made no distinction between them nor did he take care to add "a section of media" as offenders in his public announcement. In a way, Dhoni's has been a perfectly characteristic reaction. He likes to take the bull by the horns. As he did with national selectors when RP Singh was dropped and Irfan Pathan included in the one-day series against England earlier this year. Or when he went ballistic, stating he was "disgusted" at a selection meeting leak by one of the selectors. He unfailingly chides poor performances of his mates in public. So when he thought media had stepped out of line, he decided to challenge them in public. Or even HT which writes few sensible things: Beware of the angry Indians Arjun Sen, Hindustan Times Trent Bridge, June 08, 2009 First Published: 23:33 IST(8/6/2009) Last Updated: 23:44 IST(8/6/2009) Mahendra Singh Dhoni seems to be steadily slipping in to the role of the angry young man of the Indian team. The Indian captain did not take kindly to suggestions of a rift between Virender Sehwag and himself, going to great lengths to display the unity within the team at a press conference here last week, bringing out the whole squad and the support staff. Since then, the Indian players have been keeping to themselves, hardly leaving their hotel and staying as far away from the waiting media as possible. In their first nets session since the win over Bangladesh, the team, once again, decided not to hold a press conference after practice, which is usually the norm. A good number of players, including Sehwag, were missing from the optional session on Monday. Sehwag’s Delhi mate Gautam Gambhir, offie Harbhajan Singh and star of the moment, Rohit Sharma, also gave it a miss. If there indeed is some tension within the team, it was impossible to tell. The players were happy, playing the usual game of players v support staff football, and then moving on to a rather long session at the nets. Zaheer Khan looked to be well on his way to full fitness, bowling for a long time at the batsmen. There has been nothing wrong with the Indian batting so far, and if the way the big guns were middling it on Monday was any indication, Ireland’s bowlers could in be for a pounding on Wednesday. The ongoing cold war, however, has had its fallouts. The team, for the most part of the day, are camped inside their hotel, with just a few of them hanging around the lobby or the restaurants. This is a far cry from the week leading up to the tournament. High Street Kensington in London was bustling with Indian cricketers, shopping, eating out or just taking in the sights and sounds of the city. All that has changed. The team, and skipper MS Dhoni in particular, was miffed with the stories of a schism in the team. They came in to this tournament as champions, the first time in five years India are defending an ICC title, and had to make sure the focus stayed on what happened on the field, rather than off it. That was not quite how it panned out and Dhoni knew he had to make a strong statement. And that, he did. I think the foreign media are needlessly caught in the crossfire. And Dhoni's opponents are indeed faceless this time and it is really difficult to fight a faceless nuisance as we have been seeing during the war with terrorism!

[graphic23]

Chandan, I don't think he is responsible for what the foreign media feels like. There was not much else he could do if he wanted to attack the problem front on. I thought it was a brilliant move - now all we see is the media just whining about his "farcical" response to their claims. Pretty much, he won this battle and there's nothing the media can do about it.

[vipin]

Its not about fighting. Its about adhering to the basic morality of your job. I dont think media can stop the cricketers from hanging around in any case if they want to. They remain indoors probably only because its the world cup and they want to keep away from distractions. The media need to behave responsibly. Tomorrow they may declare that aishwarya rai is a wh*re and then line up outside her home asking her to defend herself.

[Chandan]

I do think that it was a brilliant move by Dhoni. Yet he is punishing many innocent also. Besides that do you think that TOI, its associates and Star news would apologise to Team India for the sake of their counterparts who don't quite believe in spreading rumours? I doubt it. And how long can this cold war continue? It might only fuel 'leaked news' and rumours based on disclosures by a 'close undisclosed source'. And that won't be good for team's concentration either! Now I'm a bit confused as to how this could be tackled!

[graphic23]

From now on though, if any newspaper produces news from an 'undisclosed source' though, it will only be negative publicity for them, given Dhoni's actions this time. You can't really win anything against the media - probably what makes them think they can produce BS and get away with it - but here, clearly, there can only be 1 winner, and its not the media.

[Rajan]

The media guys would do everything possible to form a cartel and continue to speculate. in india, the media demands accountability from every one- bureaucrats, politicians, sportsmen,judiciary and film personalities too. but the media feel they r not answerable to any one and dont have to be bound by any restrictions. whether coverage of sensitive 26/11 or the Kandahar hi jack, the media just does not have any self restraint in their competition for more eye balls and readership. they need to be shown the middle finger when they mess with the Indian team, especially while they focus on defending WC. Dhoni once took on Ravi Shastri for predicting Aussie win in last WC match. so, he wont care 2 hoots about this paparazzi. Fans shud support Team India and Dhoni wholeheartedly as long as there is no truth to the rumours.

[Mr. Wicket]

I do think that it was a brilliant move by Dhoni. Yet he is punishing many innocent also.

From the Caine Mutiny: "This is the captain speaking. Some misguided sailors on this ship still think they can pull a fast one on me. Well, they're very much mistaken. Since you've taken this course, the innocent will be punished with the guilty. There will be no liberty for any member of this crew for three months. I will not be made a fool of! Do you hear me?"

[King]

Chandan, what did you expect from the media when Dhoni snubbed them? Doesn't matter if it's ESPNSTAR or HT or whatever they always stand united. In fact as I have said before without people's support the media amount to nothing. They should understand they can't srite anything and get away. Media can't even handle one revolt from Dhoni and they are all over him like a rash but they expect to damage his reputation on a daily basis and he can't question their judgement it seems.

[h4te]

Sir Dhoni :hail::hail: I think it's time to bring back: Mashallah the media has been PWNED :D

[Guest gaurav_indian]

:mad: indian media :mad:

[DomainK]

Screw media.

[zubinpepsi]

feck the media.. let them wait like dogs n beggars outside the hotel stadium for interviews.. dhoni shudnt give in.. feck them thru all the holes.. Go Dhoni.....

[vvvslaxman]

This is dream come true. I was saying 4 years back about this. I was hoping the team to say Eff off to Media. They are doing it now. Good

[Feed]

Dhoni vs media, Part II : Captain cool loses it at press meet Mahendra Singh Dhoni faced a hostile media after news filtered in that his deputy Virender Sehwag will be out of the Twenty20 World Cup. More... Dhoni vs media: Captain cool loses it at press meet Agencies Posted: Jun 09, 2009 at 1917 hrs IST Trent Bridge (Nottingham): High drama was witnessed at a press conference addressed by Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who faced a hostile media after news filtered in that his deputy Virender Sehwag will be out of the Twenty20 World Cup. Asked about Sehwag's injury and why there was no update from the team management, he curtly said, "Whatever is related to fitness, you will get it from the BCCI." Asked why a captain should not provide the update, an irritated-looking Dhoni said, "I'm not going to say anything on that." On whether he was aware of Sehwag's injury, Dhoni's cryptic reply was "Yes, I am." His comment ignited the fuse in a jam-packed room as the media persons strained to hear from official sources whether Sehwag was really out of the tournament. The simmering issue boiled over once another question on Sehwag was aimed at team management and the reply, once again, was with a dead straight bat. It was then a free-for-all with the media accusing the team management of making a selective leak and playing hide-and-seek on an issue which is the burning topic back home. Dhoni, who is already upset with media for reporting a few days back that Sehwag and he were not on even terms, completely lost his cool when it was implied that the news about Sehwag being ruled out was leaked. "You are blaming me for leaking the news... you have all gathered here. Then why doesn't one of you stand up and..." he said. Just then he was cut short and a journalist tried to pacify him by saying "no we are not (blaming you)". In between, Dhoni made some serious noise about the importance of Wednesday's game against Ireland, a claim hardly borne out by the low turnout of his boys in a practice session at Lady Bay nets in the morning. As many as five Indian cricketers -- Yusuf and Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Ravinder Jadeja and Yuvraj Singh ? were absent from the nets. Dhoni generally was inclined to give ambivalent answers to questions and when somebody wanted his reasons for batting at number three, his reply, in just a word, was barely audible. Sehwag is now all set to return home but the questions on his injury would continue to rumble, unsure as everyone is if the dashing opener knew about the extent of his injury before he left home. Dhoni could have been hinting at Sehwag when earlier in the press conference he hoped there would be no injuries in the tournament. "Hopefully we would not have more injuries in the tournament. It's a short tournament but the intensity level is quite high. It's very demanding," he said. Dhoni took the view that even a lapse of concentration for two overs can hurt a side deeply. "If you are off the mark even for two overs, it can hurt you badly. One can never predict what happens in a Twenty20 game," he said. The Indian skipper made it clear that his team will not take even a non-Test playing nation Ireland lightly on the way to their defence of title. "Ireland are obviously a good side and will be full of confidence after beating Bangladesh. From our point of view, we just want to concentrate on executing our plans. No international match is easy. So there is no question of taking any team easy.? "I admit the intensity will not be as much as it was in the game against Bangladesh, but we are very serious about winning going into the Super Eights." Dhoni expected Ireland to play aggressive cricket now that they have made it to the Super Eight stage. "They have nothing to lose so they would be inclined to play more freely and aggressively," Dhoni said. Ireland will be banking heavily on hard-hitter Kevin O' Brien but Dhoni wasn't inclined to put him in the same category as Yuvraj Singh. "Yuvraj Singh is in a league of his own. I would say between Yuvraj and him (Kevin), there is a huge gap," Dhoni added.

[Dirty_South]

I love MSD....

[cowboysfan]

viru should have been diagnosed much earlier-he could have had his surgery by now.

[Desi Cartman]

I saw clippings of the press conference on toi.com. MSD looked upset ...TBH I think he has made his point and its time to move on ....