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HARDIK RUNS HIMSELF OUT?
Post BCCI’s show cause notice to Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul, cricketers weigh in on the conduct of players in the public eye
They are young boys, nd achievers. Why do eople expect them o be this epitome of virtue and morality?
ATUL WASSAN, ORMER CRICKETER
As cricketers, they have to be careful because they are considered role models.
NIKHIL CHOPRA, FORMER CRICKETER
Cricketer Hardik Pandya’s comments on a TV chat show hosted by Karan Johar have triggered a debate on social media. His answers on the show were deemed “sexist” and “misogynistic”. Even though Hardik soon took to social media and posted a public apology, it was followed by a show cause notice being issued to him and cricketer KL Rahul — who accompanied him on the said show — by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Hardik also issued a statement in which he stated that he is “sincerely regretful” for the comments that he made on the show. Post this debacle, Indian cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle tweeted, “It is all very well to issue show-cause notices now to KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya. But I do wish the BCCI spends time in sensitising these young players to life beyond the dressing room; to getting them outside the bubble that is inevitable given the adulation they get.”
We contacted former and present Indian cricketers and asked them what they think of the notice issued to the young players.
Former cricketer Nikhil Chopra feels that it is very important for any sportsman who is playing international cricket to be very careful about what he says on shows being watched by the masses. “You want to send the right message to the youth. No matter what you do in your private life, when you come out in public you have to set the right example,” he says.
Cricketer Ishant Sharma, who hasn’t watched the episode, feels that every person in a democracy has a right to express his opinion, and how one conducts oneself in public is personal call. “Yes, ou should be a ole model, but ou can’t separate an individual from their individuality. We live in a democratic ountry, and yet, someone expresses their pinion, we troll them. He said what he felt, just that his comments got more attention because he is a celebrity,” shares Ishant.
Former player Atul Wassan, however, is shocked by BCCI’s response and feels that the show cause notice was uncalled for. “I don’t know why anybody has the perception that anybody in the limelight has to be perfect. We should not contort Pandya’s comments and call him a misogynist. It is highly unfair and we are putting extra pressure on them,” he says. However, another former cricketer, Deep Dasgupta asserts that “conduct is a very important aspect for all contractual players” and BCCI was well within its rights to issue the notice. “Their conduct is part of the contract and players have to abide by that,” he says.
Hardik in his response to the BCCI notice, reports PTI, said that he made those statements “in the flow of the show” and had not comprehended the extent to which his statements would be found offensive. We tried contacting Karan Johar but he was unavailable for a comment.