It’s an absolutely juvenile and immature advise. Sania is being misguided, she shouldn’t have done this,” was the reaction of the doyen of Indian tennis, Naresh Kumar.
NEW DELHI: “It’s an absolutely juvenile and immature advise. Sania is being misguided, she shouldn’t have done this,” was the reaction of the doyen of Indian tennis, Naresh Kumar, when quizzed about Sania Mirza’s decision to skip the upcoming Bangalore Open.
Kumar was just voicing something that has the whole of Indian tennis incredulous. The point is, which controversy is the player alluding to when she refers to playing in India?
The flag affair came all the way from Perth and the ad shoot that attracted attention has nothing to do with tennis. Short skirts will be beamed on TV, no matter where she plays, so geographical constraints do not apply.
“Name one celebrity on the planet who has not been involved in some controversy?” asks Leander Paes. “She should learn how to handle it while being dignified and honest.
Playing for your country and in front of your countrymen is the greatest joy for any sportsman. Also, there is no athlete out there who’s greater than the game as well as the nation.
That’s something Sania has to be careful about,” was Paes’ diplomatic response to what was after all a tricky question for him given his tumultuous relationship with Sania’s manager Mahesh Bhupathi.
As of now, access to Sania for the majority of the Indian press is a strict ‘No!’. She courted the press assiduously in her formative years, but changed colours when she suddenly struck ‘Big Time’.
The public recall of a celebrity, however, hinges on the exposure that comes. So we have Sania figuring in the news whether she is injured, playing or thinking of quitting at the ripe young age of 21! A large part of it orchestrated by her very same managers who advised her to not play in Bangalore.
The easiest way for Sania to put an end to the majority of the speculation would be to be available on the phone, it needn’t be instant and 24/7.
A direct answer from the player is the surest way to quieten the most speculative of journalists. But as of now, she is cocooned from direct contact with the people who take her message to the people.
To put it bluntly, her media management is terrible. She needs a professional in that aspect, perhaps someone better experienced than another tennis player, no matter how many Grand Slams he has won. Controversy flourishes in the wake of speculation; in the case of Mirza that is rather becoming the norm.
The great Indian media churn has barriers and principles forged on the anvil of time, yet these fall asunder to the whim of the latest wiz kid on the latest channel. The more sensational the story linked to a celeb, the easier it finds its way on the air. The bite of competition amongst media enterprises has also fostered a new guile amongst player’s management companies.
Bhupathi orchestrates the assorted media with the skill of a band leader. He, though, would do well to remember that while band leaders may feel they are in charge, they are but surrogate masters; they themselves march to tunes written by someone else.
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