ABP blooper: retire Sehwag, then analyse why

BY DIPU SHAW| IN Media Practice | 20/10/2015
Tributes flowed following PTI and ABP’s gaffes. The amazing sequence of a newsbreak that wasn’t. And then was!
DIPU SHAW found it hilarious

 

Half an hour after we posted this story below, Sehwag tweeted " I hereby retire from all forms of international cricket..." at 3 pm. The Indian Express link we incorporated in our story, headlined "Haven't retired yet:Virendra Sehwag" now gives its time of uploading as 2.59 pm!


News channels are quick to leap on any breaking news. Too quick, it seems sometimes. That happened on October 19 evening when suddenly channels started telling viewers that Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag had retired from all forms of international cricket.

Among the first to report this erroneous news was the Press Trust of India. And channels picked it up in no time. There was no confirmation from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the country’s governing body for cricket. Virender Sehwag, who is an active Twitter user and has a verified account on the micro blogging site, tweeted nothing in this regard although he retweeted advance birthday wishes from fans (Sehwag turned 37 on Tuesday).

The cricketer is not even in the country. But all these details mattered little for media houses who started paying tributes to the batsman in their customary style. It also did not occur to them that none of the cricketers including Team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said or tweeted anything in this regard.

The rumour started like this. Virender Sehwag was present at the launch of Masters Champions League (MCL) 2020 in Dubai on Monday alongside retired International cricketers Brian Lara, Graeme Smith and Azhar  Mahmood. Only retired cricketers can participate in the MCL that will be held next year. So when a reporter asked Sehwag how he could play as MCL is a retired players' league, the cricketer replied, "If I am not retired I will not play. I will go back to India and announce my retirement."

PTI had earlier tweeted: Virender Sehwag announces retirement from international cricket in Dubai. 


This was enough for channels and news websites to deduce that Sehwag had already announced his retirement from international cricket. ABP news added its bit to it by claiming that Sehwag had retired from all forms of international cricket – Tests, One Day Internationals and T20s – as the anchor broke the ‘big news’. 

Quite hilariously, when the news presenter expressed surprise at the manner in which the ‘retirement’ was announced, the channel’s Associate Editor (Sports) G S Vivek, who was there on the phone line, assured her that it was Sehwag’s style and she should expect the unexpected from the cricketer. “Sehwag always does things what you cannot expect and this has been his trademark,” the sports correspondent told the anchor allaying her doubts. He claimed that what made the decision easier for Sehwag was that he will be paid a hefty sum to play in the MCL and that he has not been a part of the Indian cricket team for the past four years. This is however not correct as Sehwag’s last appearance in an international game was on March 2-5, 2013, in Hyderabad against Australia.

The anchor then spoke to Sehwag’s coach AN Sharma on the phone who also expressed surprise at the news as Sehwag had just played in the Ranji trophy. But the phone interview quickly moved to how great a player Sehwag is. ABP’s Marathi news channel ABP Majha also played the story about Sehwag’s retirement.

Many news websites published stories that Sehwag had announced his retirement and then either they took their stories down later or changed them to Sehwag mulling retirement or Sehwag to retire soon?

However, The Times of India, Huffington Post India, UNI news agency, News Nation, India TV, Zee’s Cricket County still say Sehwag has retired from international cricket.

The news reports sent Indian cricket fans in a tizzy and #ThankYouSehwaghashtag was the top trend on Twitter and Facebook later on Monday. It also gave rise to debates whether Sehwag should have been given another chance to represent India.

Describing the news about ‘Sehwag’s retirement’ as heartbreaking, former union minister and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Facebook (where the news is still trending) that the veteran cricketer at least deserved a farewell test.       

VirenderSehwag, who is the only Indian batsman to score a triple-century in Tests, has however denied reports that he has hung up his international cricket boots, when the Indian Express contacted the him. He denied it late on October 19.  

(And  Anil Kumble deleted his tweet: Have a good retirement Viru!)

 

The Hoot is the only not-for-profit initiative in India which does independent media monitoring.
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Virender Sehwag Masters Champions League PTI ABP
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