The country’s cricket rumour mill had a busy Tuesday as news of Ravi Shastri being appointed as the next India coach spread late in the afternoon. None of the tweets breaking that ‘news’ attributed it to any official source. But India came to the conclusion that Virat Kohli's view had prevailed.
Officials of BCCI, otherwise busy cancelling a crucial special general meeting in New Delhi and thereby broadening the scope for the Supreme Court to come up with a harsh sentence, were taken aback when CEO Rahul Johri drew the attention of acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary about the ‘news’ of Shastri's appointment.
After exchanging glances, they issued a statement that no announcement had been made. And yes, the job continued to be there for the taking.
Not directly responsible for the leak of fake news, BCCI bosses would do well to consider if this was not the result of their own ways. After years of diligence, they have created a system that has no process of disseminating authentic information.
All that was announced after Monday's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting was that captain Virat Kohli would be consulted and a decision on the new coach made in a few days. Not a word if the CAC would meet again, whether the coach would join the team in Sri Lanka where a series is to begin on July 21 and more importantly, nothing on Committee of Administrators (CoA) chief Vinod Rai's instructions that the new coach be named on Tuesday.
When you don't have official communiques, you open the window for rumours. There are numerous instances of BCCI officials themselves spreading fake news to divert attention and keep the spotlight away from important matters.
Even on Tuesday, news of the N Srinivasan faction stalling a motion to embrace the Supreme Court’s orders on the Lodha panel recommendations got buried by the storm of speculation surrounding Shastri.
Whether this too was a ploy time will tell, but the fact remains that fake news made headlines on a day when a much more important development went unnoticed.
Sometimes, this can have serious consequences. For example, the speculation about Shastri has been followed by more speculation that the man himself was responsible for this. This portrays him as a candidate overeager, even desperate for the job.
That may or may not be the case. But if this image of Shastri gets splashed across the media, the CAC members who are evaluating his candidature may also get affected. As it is, reports are that they are not unanimous about any of the candidates.
If irresponsible handling of news clouds their judgement, nobody stands to gain other than those churning the rumour mill. But then, that's how this system works.