The Committee of Administrators (CoA) has provisionally lifted the indefinite suspensions of the young Indian cricketers Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul with immediate effect, the BCCI said in a media release on Thursday (January 24). The inquiry into the matter will continue once the Supreme Court appoints an Ombudsman.

BCCI has taken the decision after discussions with Amicus Curiae, Mr. P.S. Narasimha. The suspension orders dated 11.01.2019 will be immediately lifted pending appointment and adjudication of the accusations by the BCCI Ombudsman.

In the press release, BCCI said, “The above matter and decision has been taken with the concurrence of the Learned Amicus Curiae, Mr. P.S. Narasimha. In view of the above, the suspension orders dated 11.01.2019 is immediately lifted pending appointment and adjudication of the allegations by the BCCI Ombudsman.”

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Pandya and Rahul, who were slapped international bans by the board for their sexist and misogynistic comments on the television talk show, are now available for selection to the national team again. Their comments during the show ‘Koffee with Karan’ were seen by some as disrespectful to women.

They were suspended for an indefinite period for their comments. The duo was asked for an explanation about their alleged misconduct and indiscipline to the BCCI. 

Speaking to Hindustan Times, a senior BCCI official regretted the delay in decision making and said that if the decision had been made even a couple of days earlier, Rahul could have played in Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy knockout game that started on Thursday.

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The BCCI official said, “If they had dealt with this matter in a pragmatic manner, the Ombudsman would have been decided by now and the proceedings may have been over. I only wish they had decided this yesterday. KL could have turned out for Karnataka in the Ranji knockouts.”