Harsha Bhogle's IPL contract terminated and he has no idea why

[JUGRAJ SINGH]

Prime VIP
Staff member
A common face since the inception of the Indian Premier League in 2008, Harsha Bhogle will not be a part of the commentary panel during the ninth edition after his contract was terminated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

The exact reason for the axing is not known, but according to a report in The Indian Express, a senior BCCI official said the decision was taken after the board asked for feedback. "When deciding the commentators, we take feedback from everyone. We monitor social media reactions on commentators, and also take inputs from players," the official was quoted as saying.

Bhogle said he was not aware of the reason behind his contract being terminated. "No one told me anything," he said. "I have not been formally told of the reason even now. All I have been told is 'it is a BCCI management decision'."

While Sony network broadcasts the match, BCCI takes the call regarding the panel of experts to commentate on the games. While the regular faces like Danny Morrison, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri (returning after his stint as Team India director) made the cut, Bhogle apparently was withdrawn.

It is alleged that Bhogle was involved in a heated argument with an official at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground in Nagpur during his commentary stint at the ICC World Twenty20, 2016, last month and this could be the reason behind his unceremonious axing.

The commentary boxes for Hindi and English were separated by the VIP enclosure and the 54-year-old had to go down and come up several times while switching. "Working on a tight deadline, because of running around, I was at times panting as I went on air. This was because of that shut door," he had said. "Even if it was the Nagpur incident, no one heard my part of the story."

Bhogle's axing was met with generally negative responses online with many fans throwing their weight behind the 54-year-old. 'Harsha Bhogle' started trending on microblogging site, twitter a couple of hours after the report appeared in the newspaper, and the commentator took to the same medium to thank his fans for their support.
 
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