The Indian head coach, Mr. Ravi Shastri shared his opinion on the controversy that erupted last month between the legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma, who is also the wife of current Indian captain Virat Kohli.
Well, for the unversed, last month, Sunil Gavaskar had found himself at the receiving end of criticism for his remark during an IPL game that Royal Challengers Bangalore lost by 97 runs to Kings XI Punjab. During the game, Sunil Gavaskar had said that Kohli’s only practice during the COVID-19 lockdown was facing Sharma’s bowling. With his statements, Gavaskar was referring to a viral video of the couple. He had said:
“Aur jab lockdown tha to sirf Anushka ki bowling ki practice ki unhone. Vo dikhayi di video me. (He has only faced Anushka’s bowling during the lockdown. That’s what we saw in the video).”
https://twitter.com/vishalghandat1/status/1309401135602569216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1309401135602569216%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_1&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Findianexpress.com%2Farticle%2Fsports%2Fcricket%2Fi-would-not-have-gone-down-that-route-ravi-shastri-on-gavaskar-anushka-controversy%2F
The statements from Sunil Gavaskar didn’t go down well with the section of people who slammed the legendary cricketer left, right, and center. Even Anushka Sharma took to her social media and slammed Gavaskar by putting a long Instagram story. She wrote:
“It’s 2020 and things still don’t change for me. When will I stop getting dragged into cricket and stop being used to pass sweeping statements?”
Here, check out the Instagram post of Anushka Sharma:
Later on, Sunil Gavaskar even cleared the air by giving his side of the story and clarifying that he wasn’t being a sexist. He said:
“Where am I blaming her, where am I being sexist in this. I am only stating what was seen on the video … I am only saying that the video says that she was bowling to Virat. So Virat has played only that bowling in the lockdown period … Where am I blaming her for Virat’s failures,”
Recently, in an interview with Times Now, Ravi Shastri has opened up on the controversial matter. Talking about the same, Shastri stated that Anushka is entitled to express her opinions if she felt hurt. He said:
“If Anushka Sharma felt it, she is entitled to say. Whether the comment made by Sunil Gavaskar is agreeable or not, I would not have gone down that route myself,”
Here, watch the video:
If Anushka Sharma felt it, she is entitled to say. Whether the comment made by Sunil Gavaskar is agreeable or not, I would not have down that route myself: @RaviShastriOfc, Head Coach, Indian cricket team tells Navika Kumar on #FranklySpeakingWithRaviShastri. pic.twitter.com/nWR5J1STUa
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) October 31, 2020
