Lisa Sthalekar chastises BCCI for ‘showing no care’ towards grieving Veda Krishnamurthy

The BCCI have come under immense fire for their negligence as former Australian cricketer and renowned commentator Lisa Sthalekar has taken to Twitter to publicly chastise the board for their unprofessional handling of the Veda Krishnamurthy situation. Krishnamurthy currently is grieving the death of her mother and sister, both of whom succumbed to COVID, and on Friday she also had to digest the news of her being left out of the tour to England.

The BCCI have not come under fire for the ‘cricketing decision’ to leave out Krishnamurthy but Sthalekar has, however, blasted the Indian board for showing utter disregard to the mental health of the player. According to Sthalekar, the board are yet to reach out to Krishnamurthy and check how she is coping, and the former Australian cricketer, hence, blasted the board for their unprofessional handling of the issue.

“Whilst not selecting Veda for the upcoming series maybe justified from their point of view, what angers me the most is that as a contracted player she has not received any communication from the BCCI, just to even check how she is coping,” Sthalekar said in a statement she released on Twitter.

“A true organization should deeply care about the players that play the game, not focus solely on just the game at any cost. So disappointed.”

Sthalekar further noted that it is high time that a Player’s Association is formed in India. The former Aussie skipper reckoned that the fear, anxiety and stress players are currently experiencing will ultimately end up taking a toll on them and, in turn, ‘inadvertently affect the game.’

“As a past player the ACA have reached out daily to see how we are and provided all kinds of services. If there was a need for a player’s association in India, surely it is now. The stress, anxiety and grief many players have experienced through this pandemic will take its toll on them and individuals and inadvertently affect the game.”