Hindustan Surkhiyan Desk: Hours after being show caused by BCCI for making inappropriate comments in Koffee With Karan, Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya responded by saying that he was “sincerely regretful” of the words he used and also vowed not to repeat the same mistake in future.
Pandya and KL Rahul were given 24 hours by BCCI to respond to the show cause notice. The all-rounder said he did not realize that his comments would be found offensive. Pandya and Rahul received a lot of flak for their comments about women which were deemed sexist and misogynistic by many and also forced the BCCI to consider banning the cricketers from taking part in non-cricketing shows in future.
“I made an appearance on the chat show where I have made certain statements without realising that these could be disrespectful and offend sensitivities of viewers for which I am sincerely regretful,” he wrote in his response.
“I would like to assure you that there was no malice or any sort of ill-intent on my part to offend anyone or portray any section of the society in bad light. I made these statements in the flow of the show and had not comprehended the extent to which my statements would be found offensive,” he added.
The 25-year-old, in Australia as part of India’s ODI squad, assured of keeping his behaviour in check.
“Rest assured I hold the BCCI in the highest regard and will exercise complete discretion and prudence to ensure that such incidents are never repeated in future,” he said.
Pandya appeared on the show with teammate K L Rahul, who was a lot more restrained in his responses to questions on women and relationships.
On the show, Pandya boasted about hooking up with multiple women and spoke about how open he is with his parents, saying he had once told them after losing his virginity, “aaj main kar ke aaya.”
When the host of the show asked him why didn’t he ask women their name in a club, Pandya responded by saying, “I like to watch and observe how they (women) move. I’m little from the black side so I need to see how they move.”
Before BCCI’s show cause notice, Pandya had also taken to twitter to issue an apology.
It is learnt that Pandya has unreservedly apologised to the Indian team management and his teammates here.
Although seen in high spirits in celebratory videos circulating on social media after India’s 2-1 series’ win over Australia, Pandya has since laid low. He wasn’t part of the optional practice session at the SCG on Wednesday.
He is said to have spoken with coach Ravi Shastri and other senior members of the Indian ODI team, expressing his regret over those remarks made on “Koffee with Karan”, a chat show hosted by filmmaker Karan Johar.
A source, close to the player, told PTI that Pandya was “drawn into making those comments as the show producers coaxed a carefree attitude” from him and Rahul.
