ArpitGarg's Weblog

“O My God, How can they remove Harsha Bhogle? How dare they? He is such a good commentator” and yada yada. We have been hearing and reading similar tones since last few days. It is as if Sachin has been axed. Okay, not so much. There is no blood bath.

I am not for shedding tears for Bhogle. I am not deriding Bhogle here. My intention is point out few things, which are being ignored during this argument.

First and foremost Bhogle is no saint. He was on retainer by BCCI to say what they wanted him to say. That he had Gavaskar for company didn’t make it any good. One can argue that he did that to earn his living. But soon as you make this argument, whole Bhogle charisma falls apart. He is nothing but a guy who was ready to sell the sanctity of game for money. He is no impartial commentator working for the good for the game. He is just a guy who speaks in his good verbal skills, what he is paid to say. That takes away the halo.

Now to the part that he is the best. That is very subjective. He might be to some; he might not be to others. No doubt he had good skills but so do a lot of others. Also this is a contractual job and not a permanent one. There was no surety of the job, and hence the premium he used to charge.

Harsha Bhogle is not naïve. He is a smart MBA from IIM, who branded and marketed himself, with the top brain he has got. Again, most of us would have done the same, given the skills. And that’s my point. He is just a normal guy. He was ever too ready to bide by BCCI diktat and in turn did no good to the game that made him rich. Most of the people who were on BCCI retainer did the same.

And this fells another argument. Bhogle was a part of the cozy club for thus long, where the policy is to scratch each other back. He survived this long by keeping to the rules of the club. Speak no truth if it harms others in the club. Have you heard anything from him on all the wrongs by the BCCI? He was the best man during Srinivasan era; he was best man before and after that. He made friends with everyone to get contracts after contracts, with no truth to the game.

Harsha Bhogle tweeted some years back,

the salary is the wrong reason to go to iim-a because you go there, or to any fine institution, to make a career not earn a salary.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) 15 October 2011

How ironic. He started to make a career of commentary and compromised for the salary himself. What has been done to Harsha is the same thing that BCCI did to others over the years. All those years when Harsha Bhogle stood silently fattening his bank balance. All those years when Harsha Bhogle was in bed with the cozy club. Now he has been booted out. Cycle of nature.

And he is very smart. He is not saying any ill against BCCI even now. Not spilling the dirty secrets of the club. He is playing a victim, appealing to people emotionally, whilst keeping the door open for return to BCCI. He is a shrewd MBA who knows how to sell himself and fatten his bank balance.

No need to shed tears for him. He has already made millions of BCCI by doing their bidding and by not being true to the game of cricket. BCCI is a bunch of thugs and he was one of them.