Ever since the controversy regarding the Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya for his sexist comments on a TV has erupted, the stakeholders are having anxious days. He along with KL Rahul, who was also present on the show has been handed an indefinite suspension and with the Supreme Court yet to take up the case, the future looks uncertain for not only the player but also teams he is associated with, including India’s national side and the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians (MI).
The Pandya case has been particularly worrying for MI as he has played a crucial role in the franchise during their three championships in the T20 tournament and it is not surprising that they would want to see him back into the field as soon as possible. The 2019 edition of the cash-rich league is around two months away now and that has made the MI even more restless. He has played in 50 IPL games so far, scoring over 600 runs and taking 28 wickets.
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Recently, some of the reports of the Times of India suggested that Mumbai Indians have requested the board to hasten the investigation into the Pandya case. However, Sundar Raman, the CEO (Sports) of Reliance Industries, has denied any such move. As quoted in TOI, Raman said, “MI has nothing to do with this.”
Hardik and Rahul recently appeared on filmmaker Karan Johar’s television show ‘Koffee With Karan’ where the all-rounder was found making sexist and misogynistic comments, which led to outrage on various social media platforms. The Committee of Administrators (CoA) that run the BCCI decided to take strict action on the duo but there was a clear lack of consensus among the people over handling the duo who returned from Australia without playing the ODI series and will miss the upcoming tour to New Zealand as well.
Recently, the CoA asked the apex court to appoint an Ombudsman who could look into the matter but the case was delayed. It is to be seen what punishment the two gets. A prolonged suspension/ban could see Pandya and Rahul missing both the IPL and World Cup 2019 while a lesser punishment could see them returning to the ground soon.
