After a while, Archana Vijaya returned to presenting cricket in this season’s IPL. One of the most celebrated female cricket presenters in India, Archana had carved her own niche in a male-dominated industry, winning awards and acclaim in the course of a thrilling journey. Twitter was abuzz once Archana went public with her comeback.
However, the big moment was somewhat unpleasant, after a delightful segment with Virat Kohli, where the batting superstar spoke in detail and displayed his fitness regimen. But things went the wrong way when a picture of her with RCB skipper Virat Kohli went viral. A photo of Kohli apparently “staring” at Archana’s ripped jeans went viral.
Archana was furious about the photo and reacted to it in a recent interview. Archana was angry at the way the picture was being projected.
Here’s what she said;
“My first thought was: Oh my God, are people trying that hard to make headlines? Are people so starved to bring people down? We were playing a round of rapid fire and the poor guy was just trying to cheat by looking at the cue card. It was the cue card he was looking at.”
Praising Virat Kohli for the growth he has shown as a cricketer she said,
“Virat has had such a remarkable growth as a cricketer. We all admire his amazing discipline. He has such clarity of thought and looks at what people did.”
Archana also shares a conversation with Virat,
“When he saw me, he asked, ‘Dude, where were you last year? Welcome back!’ That’s the sort of ease we have.”
She concluded that there needs to be a change in the mentality of people and how they look at women.
“The most disappointing thing about the whole episode was that serious news outlets covered it. It trivializes journalism.”
So when it’s all clear and we know what exactly happened what are your thoughts on the case?
Archana has taken the bull by the horn. The IPL is a compelling story of cricket, cricketers journeying from rags to riches, team owners rejoicing and grieving with their players, fans from different walks of life uniting to enjoy the great game.
Unwilling to settle for the raw end of the bargain, Archana took a step back from the frenetic world of T20 coverage to oversee her ever-growing business venture. A year later, she is back to doing what she does best (Archana also happens to be a model, a VJ, a successful entrepreneur) – presenting cricket.