BCCI bans journalist Boria Majumdar for intimidating Wriddhiman Saha

Sports journalist Boria Majumdar has been banned for two years by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for “threatening and intimidating” Indian Test cricketer Wriddhiman Saha.

The BCCI’s three-member committee comprising the Indian cricket board’s vice-president Rajiv Shukla, treasurer Arun Dhumal, and the BCCI Apex Council member Prabhtej Singh Bhatia found him guilty after considering submissions of both parties.

In a letter dated May 3, to the members of the BCCI, Hemang Amin, interim CEO and COO, IPL, mentioned the sanctions on Majumdar.

“The BCCI Committee considered the submissions by both Mr Saha and Mr Majumdar and concluded that the actions by Mr Majumdar were indeed in the nature of threat and intimidation,” he wrote.

“The BCCI Committee recommended the following sanctions to the Apex Council of BCCI. The Apex Council of BCCI agreed with the recommendations of the BCCI Committee and imposed the following sanctions,” he added.

The sanctions include a two-year ban on getting any accreditation as a member of the press in any of the cricket matches (domestic and international) in India, a two-year ban on getting any interview with any registered players in India and a two-year ban on access to any of BCCI and members associations owned cricket facilities.

In February, after he was dropped from the Test team for the home series against Sri Lanka, Saha had revealed that Majumdar had threatened him for not giving an interview.

After all of my contributions to Indian cricket..this is what I face from a so called “Respected” journalist! This is where the journalism has gone. pic.twitter.com/woVyq1sOZX

— Wriddhiman Saha (@Wriddhipops) February 19, 2022

“After all of my contributions to Indian cricket..this is what I face from a so called “Respected” journalist! This is where the journalism has gone,” Saha had tweeted on February 19 along with a screenshot of the WhatsApp conversations between him and Majumdar.

After this tweet, Saha, who has played 40 Tests and nine ODIs for India, received a lot of support from former cricketers including Ravi Shastri.

Later, the BCCI took cognizance of the incident and formed a committee to investigate.

“Shocking a player being threatened by a journo. Blatant position abuse. Something that’s happening too frequently with #TeamIndia. Time for the BCCI PREZ to dive in. Find out who the person is in the interest of every cricketer. This is serious coming from ultimate team man WS,” Shastri wrote on his Twitter page.

Shocking a player being threatened by a journo. Blatant position abuse. Something that’s happening too frequently with #TeamIndia. Time for the BCCI PREZ to dive in. Find out who the person is in the interest of every cricketer. This is serious coming from ultimate team man WS https://t.co/gaRyfYVCrs

— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) February 20, 2022

Here is BCCI’s letter announcing the ban on Majumdar.