Match Called Off After Ravindra Jadeja Press Conference Row

The aftermath of the Ravindra Jadeja press conference controversy has reportedly seen a planned T20 match between the media personnel of the two countries being cancelled. Ahead of the 4th Test between India and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja spoke to a few reporters on various topics. However, a section of Australian media suggested that Jadeja refused to answer questions in English and left the media arrangement before the Australian reporters could ask him their questions. However, the members of the Indian media contingent and the team's media manager continue to deny the same.

As a result of the controversy that erupted in Melbourne on Saturday, match between the reporters of the two countries, in Melbourne to cover the match, was boycotted and eventually called off. The fixture was arranged by Cricket Australia.

According to The Age, a section of India's backroom team along with travelling media decided to boycott the press match against local counterparts which was scheduled to be held on Sunday afternoon. The game was scheduled to be held at Junction Oval in Melbourne but had to be called off. It has been alleged that Team India's media manager pulled out of the fixture, prompting a few other members to withdraw their names too. As a result, there weren't enough players for the match to go ahead.

As the controversy around Jadeja's Hindi-only press conference intensified, a few Indian reporters claimed that the media event was called only for travelling journalists. Also, since Jadeja was asked questions in Hindi, he decided to answer them in Hindi. The Indian all-rounder, however, didn't refuse to speak in English at any instance, as has been suggested by Australian media.

Akash Deep follows Jadeja's tone

Following on from a row where Ravindra Jadeja was accused by members of Australian media for not answering questions in English, a similar tone has been maintained by Akash Deep, who was sent to attend the media on Sunday. Akash Deep is not a native English speaker, and hence could not answer questions in English, but Australian media outlet Channel 7 has now suggested that this may've been a "message" from the Indian camp. In fact, the channel stated that Indian reporters had also not helped out Australian reporters with their questions.