impertinent Hardik Pandya banned !

There have been differences and controversies ~ the will of BCCI has prevailed, whenever it wanted to.  In those days, despite a prohibitory clause in their contracts, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri used to write syndicated columns in newspapers and magazines. The BCCI, which in any case has always been reluctant to take on, winked at the practice.  Vengsarkar too dallied with writing and went against Board’s dictat.  In 1989  a five-member disciplinary committee of the board  banned for a year six senior cricketers - Dilip Vengsarkar,  Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri,  Mohammed Azharuddin,  Kiran More and Arun Lal - besides fining them Rs 35,000 for unauthorised participation in a three-way, three-match cricket series with the West Indies and Pakistan in the US and Canada.  Six others: Sanjay Manjrekar, Robin Singh, Margasahayam Venkataramana, Narendra Hirwani, Sanjeev Sharma and Ajay Sharma were fined Rs 50,000 each.

Koffee with Karan is a talk show where the host Karan Johar tries to touch upon the personal and private lives of celebrities. The popular figures, though, often try to duck the tricky questions with some witty answers.  I am never greatly impressed by the host, more so, on so called intimate questions, which border on the lines of secrecy to stupidity.  The simple refrain is judge one by their ability in their respective field, not by how they answer some stupid set of Qs – but when some falls knowingly into a trap, .. .. ..

At Sydney today :  Australia 5 for 288 (Handscomb 73, Khawaja 59, S Marsh 54) beat India254 for 9 (Rohit 133, Dhoni 51, Richardson 4-26) by 34 runs.  Rohit is an entirely different player in T20s / IPL & One dayers – today he performed again.  Yet, despite a  fine century from Rohit Sharma, Australia ripped up the form book with a 34-run victory in the first ODI at the SCG. Jhye Richardson bowled superbly to take 4 for 26, which ensured a solid if unspectacular display from their Test match turned one-day top order was enough for a much-needed win.  After ODI debutant Jason Behrendorff struck with his sixth ball, Richardson claimed two wickets in three balls in his second over, the first of them Virat Kohli, as India crashed to 3 for 4 inside four overs in their chase of 289. Rohit kept them in the contest with his 22nd ODI century, adding 137 for the fourth wicket with MS Dhoni 28 overs. Dazzler Dhoni  made 51, but consumed 96 balls, a knock that will again be polarizing – as some in social media have already started gunning for his head.

Dhoni was unluckily lbw to Behrendorff - India had burned their review - with the target still distant. As well as Rohit played, the asking rate kept rising beyond what was achievable. Richardson returned to take out Dinesh Karthik and Ravindra Jadeja in a performance that will have gone a long way to locking in a World Cup trip. Rohit kept India alive, until Marcus Stoinis nailed him to effectively kill the contest.

Whether an inform, big hitting all rounder could have made some difference ? – directly should not Hardik Pandya have played ? ~ it is not for Cricketing reasons that he had to be left out and ordered out of Australia at the next available flight, as BCCI have imposed sanction on him as also KL Rahul.

The  two players have been suspended from duties over sexist comments on a TV chat show. All-rounder Hardik Pandya and batsman Lokesh (KL) Rahul were handed the bans by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday.   The CoA in accordance with the BCCI has decided to suspend Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul from playing any form of cricket after their comments on a TV show. The duo will now return to India and an enquiry and proceedings will be made against them for misconduct and indiscipline that have been initiated under Rule 41 of the BCCI Constitution : -  

                                                           In terms of Rule 41(6) of the BCCI Constitution, the players are hereby suspended with immediate effect from participating in any manner whatsoever in any match or function or event or activity that is authorized, organized, sanctioned, recognized or supported in any way by the BCCI, the ICC or any State Association, until final adjudication of the matter.  The CoA first sent out a notice to both players concerned to which the players responded with an apology. After considering their reply, it was decided that the BCCI would proceed against both for misconduct and indiscipline.

One would certainly hold no brief for them for their sexist comments – but either that show should have been neglected or they be fined for an act, for which they had apologized almost immediately. Both Pandya and Rahul appeared on Koffee with Karan a show which encourages stars to open up about their personal lives, which aired on January 6, as India wrapped up a convincing Test victory over Australia in Sydney. Pandya bragged about his prowess with women, saying, 'You are just watching and observing how they move… I have to see how they move first,' he said.  Foolish and heady ! While Rahul did not make comments as seemingly crude, he found himself caught up in the backlash on social media and is left to explain himself to the BCCI.

While none supports ‘misogeny’ and respect to women is a basic courtesy  -either – a player shall not be penalized on-ground for off-ground misdemenaours or action be taken by the authority immediately with loss of time.   '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,' Kohli  said.

Pandya posted an apology to his social media accounts claiming he had 'reflected' on his comments. 'After reflecting on my comments on Koffee with Karan, I would like to apologise to everyone concerned who I may have hurt in any way. Honestly, I got a bit carried away with the nature of the show,' he wrote.   Now that he has been order to leave for India alongwith Rahul – replacements have been announced.  Mayank Agarwal and Vijay Shankar are likely to replace KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya for the remainder of the Australia series followed by the limited-overs tour of New Zealand. This is the first time Agarwal has been included in India's limited-overs' squad. The selectors and the team management were clearly impressed by his confident debut in the Test series in Australia, after being called in as a replacement for the injured Prithvi Shaw.

Karan Thapar is the son of former Chief of the Army Staff General Pran Nath Thapar and Bimla Thapar. The historian Romila Thapar is his cousin. This is not the first time, has whipped a controversy.  This  last para was entirely out of place – for I got confused with Karan Johar with Thapar.  Karan Thapar is an Indian journalist and politician and television commentator and interviewer who was  associated with CNN-IBN and hosted The Devil's Advocate and The Last Word. He was also associated with India Today and hosted the shows To the Point and Nothing But The Truth. The man in Q is Karan Johar, an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, costume designer, actor and television personality who works in Hindi films. He is the son of Hiroo Johar and the producer Yash Johar. Thanks to my friend Sridhar Joshi for pointing out this to me .. !

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

12^th Jan 2019.