Last Updated on 22 seconds ago by Charbel Coorey
Team India reached Cardiff for second ODI against England and a controversy emerged. A member of Virat Kohli’s personal security team has been accused of misbehaving towards a journalist during media coverage of India’s arrival in Cardiff.
Claims circulating on social media by some well-acclaimed news reporters and journalists say that security personnel allegedly stopped an accredited journalist while he was trying to cover the arrival of the Indian team. It was also reported that the journalist identified himself as an officially accredited member of the media, but security personnel denied him access to closely cover the arrival of the team.
Alleged exchange between Virat Kohli security team member & journalist draws attention
The journalist in the center was doing his routine job when team India was getting into the team bus for depature. Sources present say Kohli had already been in the bus and was taking some videos when the security personnel reportedly pushed him away and replied, “Just f*** off from here”. The journalist in his defence, said, “I am an accredited journalist here,” to which the security again said “I don’t give a damn f*** just get lost from here.”
At the time of writing, the claims have not been independently verified and no official statement had been made by the BCCI, Virat Kohli or the person in question.
Were this to be verified, the incident would is a matter of concern for the treatment of accredited media personnels during official international assignments after all they are the voices who tell us the stories from the live spot itself, After this latest misbehave, many acclaimed journalists have claimed that during an interaction involving the same member of Virat Kohli’s personal security, a mobile phone of one fan was damaged when he was trying to get a selfie with Virat Kohli during team India’s practice sessions. One more offensive allegation on this concerned security personnel has also risen up. There is no publicly available evidence that the same individual is responsible for both alleged incidents.
Questions Raised Over Personal Security Cover
The allegations have also revived the debate on the presence of privately hired security personnel on overseas tours by some specific team India players as no such incidents were reported when the T20 leg was going on, pointing out that the player only plays ODIs.
The BCCI anyhow coordinates with the local authorities to make security arrangements for the Indian team. Those arrangements are designed to guarantee the safety of players, support staff and officials during the tour which is sufficient to avoid any nuisance in public.
If private security personnel are also deployed around the team, questions will be raised about their responsibilities, authority and interaction with accredited media representatives and what their SOPs are.
CricBlog wishes to clarify again that as of the time of writing, the BCCI, Team India management, Virat Kohli, and his security officials have not responded to the allegations.
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