Picture Credit: X
On Saturday, December 21, Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja addressed the media ahead of the Boxing Day Test, which is scheduled to commence from December 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Melbourne. The veteran Indian all-rounder also recalled time spent alongside Ravichandran Ashwin, who retired from international cricket on Wednesday, just after the third BGT Test was drawn.
Moreover, Jadeja, who played his first Test in the ongoing series at The Gabba in Brisbane, was reportedly seen avoiding English questions when he interacted with the media on Saturday, leaving the Australian media fuming. However, the Indian cricketer opted to answer questions in his native language.
Australia media lashes out at Ravindra Jadeja; Indian media comes out in Jadeja’s support
This gesture by Jadeja left Australian journalists bemused, who later took to social media to vent out their frustration. Moreover, this take from the Aussie media comes after Virat Kohli’s confrontation. However, several Indian journalists stood up in support of the Indian all-rounder, claiming that he was not bound to speak in English and it was their job to translate it.
Among many, one of the prominent names in sports media, Boria Majumdar took to X to hit out at Aussie journalists. “One Aus media outlet says Ravindra Jadeja refused to answer questions in English. First he did not. Second, if he does speak in Hindi, it is for them to translate,” Boria Majumdar captioned the post on X.
Team India official breaks silence on Jadeja’s media address
Along with him, several fans also slammed Australian media’s hypocrisy over Jadeja’s language preference. However, the reports of Jadeja firstly refusing to answer questions in English have been falsified by the members of the Indian media.
“The press conference was organized specifically for Indian journalists. Cricket Australia’s media team seems to have extended the invite to Australian reporters. Not all journalists, including many Indian ones, got the opportunity to ask questions due to time constraints. Our media manager never imposed a language restriction. Ravindra Jadeja is proficient in English and would have answered any questions posed to him. The questions happened to be in Hindi, and he responded accordingly,” an official from the Indian team clarified, as quoted by Times Now.
