Mumbai: Hardik Pandya on Tuesday deposed before BCCI Ombudsman D K Jain for making sexist comments on a TV chat show while his India teammate K L Rahul will be doing the same ahead of the IPL game between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab here on Wednesday.
Pandya plays for Mumbai Indians and Rahul for Kings XI Punjab. “Hardik met Ombudsman at the Mumbai Indians team hotel while Rahul will depose tomorrow,” a BCCI official told PTI. The Supreme Court-appointed Ombudsman, Justice (Retd) Jain, had issued notices to Pandya and Rahul last week to appear for deposition for their controversial comments on popular show ‘Koffee with Karan‘.
Pandya and Rahul were provisionally suspended by the Committee of Administrators (COA) for their remarks before the suspension was lifted pending an inquiry by the Ombudsman. Jain will submit a report on the matter to the COA headed by former CAG Vinod Rai. Both players became subjects of nationwide criticism following their loose remarks on women.
The controversial episode was aired in the first week of January, triggering outrage, which prompted the COA to call the duo back from the tour of Australia, handing them provisional suspensions. The two tendered unconditional apologies and their ban was provisionally lifted pending inquiry. Once Jain assumed his role, the COA handed over the matter to him for the completion of inquiry.
The two players have also spoken publicly on the incident, recalling one of the toughest phases of their respective careers. In the ongoing IPL, both Rahul and Pandya are doing a fine job for their respective teams. While Pandya’s place is a given in India’s World Cup squad to be picked in April 15, Rahul too is very much in the race.