‘Not being so media savvy, they (Rahul and Pandya) seemed to have got carried away’

In his guide ‘Not Just a Nightwatchman – My Innings in the BCCI’, former CoA head Vinod Rai writes about how they handled the Hardik Pandya-KL Rahul speak present controversy. Here are the extracts from the guide printed by Rupa Publications :

Diana was initially of the opinion that they (KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya) must be banned for a match or two to point out we respect ladies and won’t enable gamers to be disrespectful in the direction of them. They had been issued show-cause notices … Meanwhile, I mentioned the difficulty with Ravi Shastri, the top coach, who was then in Australia with the staff. Both of us felt that this was an off-the-ground misdemeanour, which must be dealt with by suspending them from taking part in a few matches and confiscation of match charges, in the event that they had been prepared to render a honest public apology.

So, the following day, on 10 January, I proposed a two-match suspension and sought Diana’s opinion… She forwarded my e mail to the three office-bearers… All the three-office bearers urged ‘strict action’ as per BCCI guidelines. Thus, following the BCCI guidelines, on 11 January, the 2 gamers had been positioned beneath suspension. Both the gamers had been in Australia with the staff and needed to be known as again. Diana had made it clear that they need to be stored beneath suspension until additional plan of action was determined for this misconduct…

In such disciplinary circumstances, BCCI guidelines require the CEO to conduct an inquiry, the report of which is to be given to the Apex Council who’s to ship it to the ombudsman for remaining disciplinary motion. However, Diana was not proud of the CEO conducting an inquiry and wished the CoA, together with the three workplace bearers, or the CoA together with the appearing secretary, to do the inquiry…

Rahul and Pandya are among the many most interesting we’ve within the staff. Not being so media savvy, they appeared to have gotten carried away and indulged in ‘boy’s dressing room speak’ with out being aware that they had been on nationwide tv. We all acknowledge that their remarks had been reprehensible. They regretted the identical and tendered an unconditional apology. An off-the-ground misdemeanour of this sort wanted a correction however didn’t require placing their careers in jeopardy. I felt that prolonging their suspension and protecting them away from cricket might presumably trigger an irreparable scar on their profession and make issues worse.