Ravindra Jadeja-Hindi controversy: What actually happened during the press conference?

It is rare for India's tour of Australia to end without any controversy. Often, Team India's tour Down Under gives rise to new controversies in some way or the other. On Saturday, Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja's conversation with journalists in Melbourne sparked a major controversy, with the player accused of not answering questions from the Australian media in English. Some absurd allegations were made against Jadeja while the media manager of the team allegedly misbehaved. Several Australian media outlets published reports alleging non-cooperation from Jadeja during the press conference.

Two versions of the story survive. One, as reported by the Australian media, and the other, which allegedly actually happened on the ground. We take a look at both of them.

Australian media claim: According to Channel 7, Ravindra Jadeja “refused to answer questions in English”, leaving members of the Australian media confused and confused.

What actually happened: Ravindra Jadeja never refused to answer any question in English. His answers came in Hindi because members of the Indian media asked him for answers in Hindi. At no time did he decline a request to answer any questions in English.

Australian media claim: The press conference was organized only for the visiting Indian media, although Australian media were invited.

What actually happened: The press conference was organized primarily for the visiting Indian media only. Even the representative of Cricket Australia was informed about this. The message of conversation with Jadeja was sent on the WhatsApp group of Indian media only.

First Virat Kohli had a fight with an Australian female journalist at the airport and then #Ravindrajdeja Refused to speak to Australian media.#ViratKohli #AUSvsIND #BGT2025pic.twitter.com/01gJ5zwDZq

– DoctorOfCricket (@CriccDoctor) 22 December 2024

When India's media manager was asked by members of the Australian media why Jadeja was not stopping for their questions, he replied that the team bus had to depart. Therefore, the player cannot wait any longer.

This was not an official and mandatory press conference and was only a limited time scheduled by the media management of the Indian team. Therefore, it was not mandatory for Jadeja to ensure that every journalist present at the venue got answers to his questions.

A few days ago, India's great batsman Virat Kohli also had a heated argument with some journalists at Melbourne Airport. Kohli had to intervene and stop his family, especially his children, from being filmed at the airport. Kohli confronted a journalist at the airport and asked him to respect his privacy along with that of his family.

This incident also created a big controversy.