New Delhi:
Ace Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh on Friday criticised Hardik Pandya and K L Rahul for making 'outrageous' remarks on women on the recently-aired episode of Koffee With Karan - hosted by hosted by popular film director Karan Johar - saying they have put the reputations of cricketers at stake. Pandya is under fire for boasting about hooking up with multiple women and being open about it with his parents. Rahul was, however, a little more restrained in his responses on relationships and women.
"We don't talk about all this even with our friends and they were talking on public television. Now people might think was Harbhajan Singh like this, was Anil Kumble like this and was Sachin Tendulkar..." Harbhajan told 'India Today'.
"The BCCI did the right thing, and this is also the way forward. This was expected and I am not surprised," the off-spinner, who has over 400 Test wickets, said when asked about their suspension.
Virat Kohli, the Indian cricket team skipper, has also condemned the comments of Pandya. “From the Indian cricket team point of view, any inappropriate comments that are made in that scenario are something that we definitely don't support...and that has been communicated (to the two players. We definitely don't align with those views and those are purely individual views. The two concerned players (have) felt what has gone wrong and they have understood the magnitude of what's happened,” Kohli had said.
The under-fire players have been suspended from playing any form of cricket with immediate effect pending an inquiry into their sexist comments. The duo will return home from the ongoing Australia tour and will also miss the limited-overs series against New Zealand consisting of five ODIs and three T20Is, starting January 23.
