Former India leg-spin sensation L. Sivaramakrishnan has come forward with a deeply unsettling account, alleging that a senior BCCI official telephoned him shortly after his elder brother’s funeral some years back, asking whether he was available to join the commentary team for an India versus Australia Test match in Mohali, now that the cremation had concluded.
Duty over Family
Sivaramakrishnan revealed that despite being in mourning, he did travel to fulfill his commentary responsibilities. He also recalled a separate occasion when his mother passed away while he was already on commentary duty in Pune. He brought up both incidents to underscore his unwavering dedication to the profession and to express his frustration that, in spite of such personal “sacrifices,” he was repeatedly sidelined and denied adequate opportunities.
In his own words, posted on X: “My elder brother passed away a few years earlier. We finished cremation in the evening, minutes after that, the Director Broadcasting of BCCI called me and said, ‘Now that the cremation is over, can you take a flight the next morning to commentate on Ind v Aus Test in Mohali?’ I went.”
He further wrote: “I sacrificed the mourning and went, my mother passed away when I was doing commentary in Pune. Having done all that, I was subject to whatever I went through.”
Announced retirement
Earlier in 2026, Sivaramakrishnan had publicly announced his retirement from commentary, pointing to a persistent lack of opportunities and suggesting he had long been a victim of what he described as “colour discrimination.”
When a social media user asked him to identify the BCCI official involved in the incident, Sivaramakrishnan responded: “The one who is now. The man because of whom I retired.”
Sivaramakrishnan represented India in 9 Test matches and 16 One Day Internationals between 1983 and 1987, claiming a combined total of 41 wickets across both formats. After transitioning into broadcasting, he has previously spoken about facing “colour discrimination” throughout his life, stating that he has grown accustomed to it over time.
