Of course Rohit has a point…definitely, says Michael Holding

West Indies pace great and retired television commentator Michael Holding has come out in support of India skipper and Mumbai Indians batting stalwart Rohit Sharmarsquos objection to Star Sports airing his nonplaying conversationsThe lives of cricketers have become so intrusive that cameras are now recording every step and conversation we are having in privacy with our friends and colleagues at training or on match days Rohit said on XldquoDespite asking Star Sports to not record my conversation it was and was also then played on air which is a breach of privacyrdquo Holding a commentator from 1988 to 2021 told midday that he absolutely agrees with Rohitrsquos Sunday utterancesMichael HoldingldquoOf course he has a point mdash definitely Itrsquos a bit unethical of the broadcaster to do that especially if he has already asked not to record him when he is not playing A broadcaster is free to record peoplersquos conversations while they are playing on the field through the stump microphone and all that sort of stuff As a player if you donrsquot want to be recorded then you donrsquot go by the stump microphone or donrsquot say anything But if you are outside with your friends having a private conversation with someone else mdash that should not be recorded If they record it they should come to you and say lsquois it ok if we broadcast it That is an ethical way of doing thingsldquoWhat yoursquore doing is not illegal but there is something called morality But Irsquom not sure if those things matter any longerrdquo said Holding 70 from the Cayman IslandsAlso Read When the time was WrightDoes Holding feel there are far too many people on the field before the commencement of highprofile matches ldquoI donrsquot know whatrsquos happening in the IPL but David Lloyd England batsmanturnedcommentator and I used to talk about that not on air mdash but we talked about that regularly and I used to ask him lsquoBumble the Lancastrianrsquos nickname how many do you reckon are on the fieldrsquo and we used to count upto 40 people on the field before a game starts sometimes more A touring team will have a squad of 1516 and then 1011 of the other staff and then you have the umpires and the ground staff The ground people have the right to control thatrdquo said HoldingPrakash Wakankar PicGetty ImagesLike Holding Indian radio commentator Prakash Wakankar understood Rohitrsquos angst ldquoMy simple view is anything used by a media source ideally ought to be authorised and approved Itrsquos isnrsquot fair to pick up informal conversations specially if they are in a safe personal space That said public personalities ought to be careful toordquo remarked Wakankar a BBC commentatorJoseph lsquoRedsrsquo PerreiraMeanwhile West Indian broadcaster Joseph lsquoRedsrsquo Perreira who has been doing commentary since 1971 said the broadcaster keeping the audio on in the footage was totally ldquounprofessionalrdquo Perreira remarked ldquoThatrsquos not a norm in international standards That principles have been ignored is just not onrdquo