New Delhi:
Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul face an uncertain future after being suspended from the Indian team and ordered back home for the series against Australia for their controversial remarks on the show Koffee With Karan. The Committee of Administrators (CoA) wants the Supreme Court to appoint an ombudsman to decide the fate of the two players, who have already missed the ODI series against Australia and are set to sit out of the tour of New Zealand as well. With the Supreme Court now willing to hear matters related to the BCCI only next week, the wait for the two players has been prolonged. BCCI president CK Khanna has urged the CoA to allow Pandya and Rahul to play while the inquiry is being conducted.
Khanna said calling the SGM to appoint an ombudsman to investigate the two players' conduct, as demanded by Board officials, wouldn't be right as the Supreme Court is due to take up the issue next week.
"They made a mistake, and they have already been suspended and called back from the series against Australia. They have also submitted an unconditional apology. I suggest that pending inquiry we reinstate both the cricketers into the Indian squad immediately and allow them to join the team in New Zealand at the earliest. What Pandya said and Rahul acted as a by-stander to is inappropriate and absolutely wrong, but in my personal opinion, to treat them like lawbreakers is wrong too. Both these cricketers need game time before the World Cup which starts in four months’ time. We should give these growing cricketers chance to correct themselves morally," Khanna wrote in a letter to the Committee of Administrators (CoA) running the BCCI.
The appointment of an ombudsman was sought by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) to investigate the duo's comments on hookups with multiple women and being casual about it with their families. With the bench nominating former Additional Solicitor General PS Narsimha as the new amicus, the case of appointment of a permanent or ad-hoc ombudsman will only come up as and when the new amicus takes charge.
Khanna had echoed Rai's sentiment on early resolution of the matter. "Pandya and Rahul certainly brought disrepute to the board with their inappropriate comments. For that, the BCCI has already suspended them provisionally. However, I am also of the view that the matter needs to be sorted at the earliest," he had told PTI.
The situation came into light with this one conversation when Johar was asking questions about not asking women’s name in a night club and what do men talk about. To this, Pandya replied, “I like to watch and observe how they (women) move. I'm little from the black side so I need to see how they move." Pandya also boasted about how he casually discussed his sex life with his parents. “When I lost my virginity, I came home and said, 'Main karke aya hai aaj (I had sex today)'. At a party my parents asked me 'acha tera wala (women) kaun sa hai [who is your interest here?] so I said yeh, yeh, yeh (pointing out women)' and they were like 'waah proud of you beta',” Pandya replied with laughter. Following the outrage, Hotstar removed the episode from the web while Pandya's father Himanshu has said that the comments should not be taken seriously as his son was indulging in chatter in a light-hearted manner.
