BCCI President N Srinivasan has rejected accusations that the Indian Cricket Board censors commentators employed by it, insisting that it does not "interfere with the freedom of the press".
"We don't censor commentators. This word censorship is incorrect. BCCI doesn't tell the commentator ‘you say this, you cannot say this’ and things like that," Srinivasan told ESPN Cricinfo.
A controversy was triggered recently when former Australian captain Ian Chappell refused to take up a commentary assignment in India after being presented with a set of dos and donts.
Srinivasan refused to be drawn into that matter, saying Chappell was not employed by the BCCI.
"What has he said? Ian Chappell is not employed by us. We have never said anything to him. We are talking about people employed by us. BCCI doesn't tell the commentator anything," he said.
"BCCI in no way interferes with the freedom of the press. But, a commentator should be a commentator, and a journalist should be a journalist," Srinivasan asserted.
Asked why the BCCI ventured into TV production, Srinivasan said, "Television production was disorganised. It wasn't professional. There were lots of freelancers involved, the production house was not coordinating things.
"We wanted to make it systematic and we wanted the domestic cricket covered professionally so that we can monitor performances, evaluate umpires," he added.
Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters
