The Indian captain Virat Kohli said that he is not too stressed about the possibility of a ban on the young all-rounder Hardik Pandya for his “inappropriate” comments on women on the popular show Koffee With Karan.
As India is set to play against Australia in the first one-day international (ODI) of the three-match series at Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday, he said that the Team India has a ready replacement in the form Ravindra Jadeja if Hardik Pandya gets a ban from the BCCI.
Virat Kohli in the press conference on the eve of the first ODI said, “We played in India against the West Indies with a finger spinner and a wrist spinner. So it’s good that we have someone like Jadeja who can do the all-rounder’s role if a scenario like that occurs.”
He further added that “So we are not too stressed as a team (about the Pandya situation) because you’ll always have things that you can do in terms of creating that balance for the side. And hence, we keep players who can provide balance with bat and ball as a backup anyway.”
The Indian Captain distanced his team from controversial comments made by all-rounder Hardik Pandya on a TV chat show that sparked social media outrage following which the two are facing the possibility of being banned for a couple of matches.
“I don’t think we will have too much of trouble if we have to change our combinations. We are pretty comfortable as a side and any combination that we go in with,” he added.
Earlier Team India stars KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya appeared in a chat show called Koffee With Karan in which the young Indian lads talked on many topics ranging from how they spend their time off-field, romanticising women and their personal life.
Later Pandya was slammed for his comments objectifying women when the host questioned him about his personal life, he revealed how his family were cool when it came to discussing his sex life openly.