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The temperature on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test is expected to soar to 39 degrees, but tensions between the Indian and Australian media seem to have already hit boiling point.
After Virat Kohli’s disagreement with a Channel 7 reporter at Melbourne Airport last Thursday, a fresh controversy erupted at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Saturday during Ravindra Jadeja’s press conference following the team’s practice session. The interaction, organised primarily for the travelling Indian media, saw only Hindi questions being asked, with Jadeja responding in the same language. While neither the player nor the Indian media team had any issue with taking questions in English, the reporters present chose to ask only in Hindi.
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The Indian media manager clarified that the session was arranged for Indian journalists as part of regular touring engagements, given the week-long gap between the fourth and fifth Tests. While Australian reporters attended without being explicitly invited, the Indian team welcomed their presence without imposing restrictions.
Time constraints, however, prevented even several Indian journalists from posing their questions as the team bus was scheduled to leave. This appeared to frustrate some Australian media members, who voiced objections over the absence of English questions—a demand outside the session’s intended purpose.
Matters escalated after the nine-minute session ended, with a few Australian journalists confronting the Indian media manager and journalists in a visually aggressive manner. An Australian videographer’s attempt to film the incident, despite protests from the Indian contingent, further heightened tensions.
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