Conflict of Interest.
Ravi Shastri , Sunil Gavaskar and now Anil Kumble have come under the radar of public eye for running 02 posts which contradict in its motive and therefore have conflict of interest.
After listening to their respective explanations, I am of the opinion that there can be no excuses for holding 02 posts unless you have a vested interest.
The way Ravi Shastri was lambasting the DRS system clearly showed an agenda. At least on 5 occasions he interpreted the whole story in accordance with his convenience and blamed DRS for no apparent reason. (If Rahul Dravid walks out when he was not out, that is not DRS problem)
Now I am willing to give him the benefit of doubt and let us say his integrity is intact and there is nothing he has done in his conscious mind. However, problem with conflict of interest is that it works above the conscious mind. Without realizing, a commentator puts across an agenda and Ravi Shastri subconsciously blasted the DRS system out of the way.
It is a choice a person needs to make. People with integrity and character go out of the way to make sure they are doing everything right . Because when you are in the public eye and a national figure, you are responsible for your subconscious decisions as well.
You cannot be on a payroll of BCCI and also on the commentary team. In fact I have heard BCCI has forcefully planted them in the commentary team and not the TV broadcaster.
Now, as a cricket follower I have no respect for a person who is commenting because he has been hired by a beurocrat and not a private entity. You cannot be termed independent if you are getting paid by the system you are commenting on.
And no matter how honest and full of character your existence has been, an act like this will leave you with questions and blemish on your integrity. Like I said it is a choice you make between ego, money on one side and Integrity on the other.
