Raina asks Arnab to launch campaign supporting India in West Indies

Suresh Raina, the Indian cricket team captain for the West Indies tour, is understood to have written a mail to Times Now editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, pleading the news channel to launch a “sustained campaign” to help the Indian team get some support and television viewership.

India has won one Twenty20 match and two ODIs in West Indies, but Indian cricket fans have shown no interest in following the series yet.

“Nothing but pointed and direct questions from Arnab could force viewers to watch cricket now,” Raina is reported to have argued in his mail to Boria Majumdar, the sports editor of Times Now, “Please have a Newshour debate of six hours and help us survive here. We badly need your support.”

Virat Kohli reported that he could see the ball clearly as there were no men waving flags behind it in the stands

Sources at Times Now reveal that Boria wrote back to Raina expressing his inability to help as the editorial policy of Times Now was to “report, and not support”, as has been reiterated many times by Arnab Goswami in the recent debates.

Undeterred by this negative response, Raina then wrote a “direct and pointed” letter to Arnab himself, making a strong case of why the channel must support the Indian team, which was thinking of pulling out of the remaining matches owing to lack of interest among the fans back home.

“Your team is the World Champion, you remember?! And your team were the original heroes before Anna Hazare came into picture,” Raina’s passionate letter to Arnab read, referring to the Indian cricket team as “your team” repeatedly to strike a chord with Arnab.

“While we don’t grudge Anna, it’s painful to see someone like Suhel Seth getting more airtime for his howzzats than Harbhajan Singh,” the letter argued, “Harbhajan is actually agitated for god’s sake!”

“Please take note that even BCCI is not replying to our mails, if you don’t support us, we might be forced to pull out of the series,” the Indian captain is believed to have pleaded in the letter.

While Arnab’s final decision was not known to anyone and could be known only during the Newshour tonight, BCCI is believed to be working on a “Team C” that they will send to West Indies in case current players decide to boycott the remaining series.