Guwahati, Nov. 28: Mahendra Singh Dhoni had done it during the tri-series earlier this year in Dambulla, when he preferred to play football instead of attending the mandatory post-match press conference.
On Sunday at the Nehru Stadium here as well, no one from the Indian camp turned up at the post-match press meet. While losing New Zealand captain Ross Taylor spoke to the media, Gambhir was conspicuous by his absence
What followed was a blame game as the Indian team management claimed it was the duty of the Assam Cricket Association to approach the former.
“We are very well aware of the fact that the press conference is mandatory. But it was the duty of the state association to approach us. We would have sent Virat (Kohli) for the conference, but they contacted us when we had already boarded the team bus and were about to leave,” was what India team manager Mayankh Parikh had to say.
The ACA on their part argued it was India captain Gautam Gambhir who refused to address to the media.
“We had certainly approached Gambhir, but he said no one from the camp would speak,” ACA general secretary, Bikash Barua claimed. “For ICC events the post-match conference is mandatory. The losing captain comes first followed by the winning captain,” said Sami-ul-Hasan, ICC’s Communications and Media Operations manager.
But the Indian cricket board was not aware of the regulations. “I’m not aware of any regulations. I can’t comment on this,” was what BCCI chief administrative officer, Prof. Ratnakar Shetty, said.