Indian cricketers KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya were on Friday suspended for an indefinite period of time following their controversial remarks against women, implying that the duo will no be a part of the Indian team in their upcoming three-match ODI series against Australia beginning tomorrow.
In a mail written to Pandya and Rahul, the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) confirmed that both cricketers will be out of action until final adjudication in the matter.
"In terms of Rule 41(6) of the BCCI Constitution, you are hereby suspended with immediate effect from participating in any manner whatsoever in any match or function or event or activity that is authorized, organized, sanctioned, recognized or supported in any way by the BCCI, the ICC or any State Association, until final adjudication of the matter," the email sent to both the players read.
Indian captain Virat Kohli has sidelined the team from the controversy saying "We as the Indian cricket team and responsible cricketers don't align with those views, those were individual opinions".
Addressing a press conference ahead of the first ODI against Australia in Sydney on Friday, Kohli added, "From the Indian cricket team's point of view, this changes nothing in our beliefs in the change room, it does nothing to the spirit that we have been able to create. Combinations will have to be thought of once the decision comes out."
Earlier, CoA member Diana Edulji had suggested that the cricketers should be put under suspension till a further course of action is decided for their misconduct on the celebrity chat show 'Koffee with Karan'.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Anirudh Chaudhary had also pushed for strong punishment for Pandya and Rahul following their controversial remarks against women on the chat show. He said that a two-match suspension as suggested by CoA member Vinod Rai is merely a "stop-gap arrangement" considering that the CoA had banned Australian cricketer Steve Smith and David Warner for an entire IPL season following a massive ball-tampering scandal, last year.
He further stated that players should be allowed to re-join the team after going through a "proper sensitization" in addition to serving the ban given.
Pandya, who shared the couch with Rahul on the latest episode of Karan Johar's show, faced backlash for what netizens termed 'sexist' and 'disrespectful' remarks on women.
On the show, he bragged about not asking the names of women at parties and how he watched them move on the dance floor.
Later, Pandya took to social media and apologised for the incident saying he "may have got a bit carried away with the nature of the show".
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