What do you do when the person you want to interview refuses to appear on your show? If you’re Arnab, you simply carry on an interview with yourself.

Times Now grilled N Srinivasan through Wednesday evening with hard-hitting and pertinent questions. But where was Srinivasan while the questions were being posed to him? Who knows. All we got to see was footage of Srinivasan getting in and out of his car on a split screen. So, there is no way he could have heard these questions unless he was carrying an ear piece the way fielders do in IPL matches or getting sms alerts from Times Now. Nevertheless, we try to make some sense of the great show put up by “your channel”, and out of pity for Times Now have provided some much needed answers to Arnab’s questions.

Times Now: In 2012, you said the media won’t be censored. Why then did you try to gag Times Now at yesterday’s news conference?

NL: No one needed to gag Times Now. Because the only one gagged at that press conference was Dhoni. Really Arnab, this self-obsession isn’t good for your health.

Times Now: You tried to draw a line of deniability between you & your son-in-law. Do you think the entire world will believe that?

NL: The only line he cares about is the line which the BCCI members are toeing.

Times Now: You said it was a media trial & they are hounding you. Will you say this again after Jaitley, Shukla & Scindia’s stand?

NL: He doesn’t have to say it again because you keep replaying that footage every five minutes.

Times Now: Just because Dhoni is a VP in India Cements, have you turned the Indian Captain into a puppet who speaks or stays silent on your instructions?

NL: Really now, have you not heard of bonded labour? Do rent Amistad. Fun film.

And just in case you’re a little hard of understanding, Times Now is playing these questions in a loop under a campaign named “Crusade for Cricket”.  The best part of the entire initiative comes at the end of it.

Journalism of integrity? Really? More like the journalism of rhetoric.