Indian cricket team captain and Mumbai Indians opener Rohit Sharma on Sunday lashed out at broadcasters Star Sports for intruding into his private space. Rohit Sharma alleged that Star Sports, which was the official television broadcaster of the IPL 2024 recorded his conversations even after it was asked not to.
The former Mumbai Indians captain let his displeasure known via X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday afternoon.
Rohit Sharma criticised the purposeful "breach of privacy" and warned the hunger for exclusives will result in the "break the trust" between multiple parties.
"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 played on air, which is a breach of privacy. The need to get exclusive content and focused only on views and engagement will one day break the trust between the fans, cricketers and cricket," the veteran opener's post on X read.
Rohit Sharma was recorded chatting with his friends in the stands at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium during the tournament. In the clip, the 'Hitman' was heard telling the cameraperson to not record his audio, Indian Express said in a report. The Indian captain reportedly requested the cameraman with folded hands to omit the video recording.
However, the said video was aired with just one part muted in the middle, the news report added.
In another incident at the Eden Gardens, a video showed a private conversation between Rohit and Abhishek Sharma. The video was deleted from official handles after netizens realised the sensitive nature of the conversation. However, the damage was already done by the time it was taken down as the clip got replicated and reshared online by several users.