Former India leg-spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan has walked away from BCCI commentary, and he didn’t leave quietly.
The 60-year-old took to X to post what he called a retirement from BCCI commentary duties, and when fans in the comments pressed him for a reason, he gave them one. “If I have not been used for TOSSES and PRESENTATION for 23 years and new comers come in do pitch report Tosses Presentation even when Shastri was coaching, what do you think could be the reason,” he wrote.
It’s a pointed question. High-profile toss and presentation duties in major BCCI matches have largely gone to the likes of Ravi Shastri and Harsha Bhogle, while Sivaramakrishnan was handed other assignments. Twenty-three years of that, apparently, was enough.
He wasn’t done. “This retirement is only the beginning of a story when told, general public, cricket fans and everyone will be utterly Shocked,” he added. “I am very happy that people who hate me are delighted. But those who thought I was at least decent. Thanks. BCCI will be left with disbelief.”
The timing caught people off guard, including Ravichandran Ashwin, who had just retired from IPL cricket himself. “Oh no! Why not this IPL?” Ashwin wrote on X.
Sivaramakrishnan first made his name during India’s 1985 World Championship win as a leg-spinner. His international career was brief nine Tests, 26 wickets, and 15 wickets in 16 ODIs but he stayed connected to the game through domestic cricket before moving into commentary.
He had clearly been building toward this decision for a while. “Can’t sacrifice my self-respect and suck up,” he said in one of his posts on X.
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