mid-day Opinion: Those days of easy access

England manager Ray Illingworth (seated on a chair) invites journalists to his hotel room for a press conference in Pakistan during the 1996 World Cup. Pic/Getty Images

Knock knock… "Come in." People close to players have not witnessed this for a while now ever since the anti-corruption measures came into play.

Meanwhile, the BCCI, acting on a few complaints, has barred all visitors from entering the hotel rooms of IPL players without the manager's permission. One of the items mentioned in a document sent to 10 IPL teams reportedly says that no one, "shall be permitted entry into a player's or support staff member's hotel room without the prior knowledge and explicit written approval of the Team Manager."

This piece of news was a middle-level topic of discussion (Bengal elections was numero uno) at a party I was at recently. An old pro got talking to me about another era in which journalists could walk up to anyone and everyone to have a chat, be it on or off the record. I, for one, remembered the several interviews I had conducted in hotel rooms of players who were courteous to the point of even ordering a cup of tea for their interviewer.

Dressing rooms have always been a place where ‘guests' were not welcome but I've experienced a few concessions on this score. In fact, Mohd Azharuddin granted me an interview without knowing me - at the Wankhede Stadium dressing room - on the eve of his Indian team's departure to New Zealand in 1994. Ditto Dr Ali Irani, the then Indian team's physiotherapist.

And when there was no designated space for captains - Australia's Mark Taylor and South Africa's Hansie Cronje - to address the media before their 1996 Titan Cup match at Faridabad, Cronje asked us to assemble in one corner of his team's dressing room to conduct his pre-match media interaction. Taylor scoffed at the suggestion of speaking to the media where Cronje did. "Sorry, this is a dressing room. I'll speak to you outside," he said.

Back to hotel rooms. I remember setting up an interview with Stephen Fleming of New Zealand in Ahmedabad, where they kicked off their 1996 World Cup campaign. As soon as I asked my first question in his Cama Hotel room, he got up and said, "I must check with Glenn about this." Former captain Glenn Turner was the team's coach. Fleming came back to the room, armed with permission for us to carry on. He was flattered and aware of Martin Crowe saying that he could become NZ's highest Test run getter. "Yeah, I am aware of that. Being fortunate to play as many games like we do now I think there is a realistic chance. But it also depends on the way you get them [runs]," Fleming told me. He did end up as NZ's highest run-scorer with 7172 before Ross Taylor (7683) and Kane Williamson (9461).

Gary Kirsten was another illustrious left-hander I interviewed in his hotel room. It was during the Kanpur Test of 1996-97. The South Africans were instructed by their cricket board to oblige the media when it came to interviews. Kirsten, who scored 102 and 133 in the Kolkata Test, asked me to come over to his Landmark Hotel room and answered my questions while he got ready to attend a function. When I asked him about the bowlers who he found most difficult to face, he wasn't coy to say, "I don't find any international bowler easy to face simply because I am not in the same league as Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, who can just dominate bowlers at will."

A few days earlier, I had met Tendulkar, who allowed me to interview him in his hotel room. A sore throat prevented the then India captain from attending the pre-Test media briefing.

Tendulkar's team were to face a side that had beaten them by 329 runs in the previous Test at Kolkata. The series was to be decided at Green Park. Despite that, the captain's optimism wasn't misplaced. "There is equal pressure on SA. My bowlers are capable of hitting back. This match is the right time to do it," said Tendulkar, who was proved right as India won the Test by 280 runs and with it, the series.

One of my most memorable hotel room interviews was with Kenya captain Maurice Odumbe. His team had just caused the biggest upset of the 1996 World Cup by beating two-time champions West Indies in Pune. I rushed to the Blue Diamond hotel to speak a bit more to the visiting captain after his post-match briefing. On meeting Odumbe in the lobby, he agreed for me to accompany him to his room. As soon as he opened the door, he took a call from the BBC. There were other calls too, but an elated Odumbe gave me time and one of the things he told me was, "We are going to get p''sed tonight."

The recent transgressions in the IPL have forced the hand of authorities to impose stricter restrictions. It has also given us people reason to repeat the zamana badal gaya tune of refrain. And now it's knock knock…
"Don't come in."

mid-day's Deputy Editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance.
He tweets @ClaytonMurzello. Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper.