Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has demanded a life ban on the person who allegedly hanged Yuzvendra Chahal from the balcony during their Mumbai Indians days in 2013, and also to anyone who commits such heinous activity.
Yuzvendra Chahal, now with Rajasthan Royals, on April 7, revealed a sensational story of physical harassment that has left everyone – fans and cricketers – in shock and distress. He said that in 2013 he was dangled from a 15th-floor hotel balcony by one of his then Mumbai Indians teammates. Thankfully, others around them quickly came in and helped him back while he was left feeling dizzy.
Ravi Shastri asserted that this is “no laughing matter at all” for the player who bullied Chahal, putting the leg-spinner’s life at immense risk, or for any fans on social media who find it funny.
“I do not know who the person is, (he) was not in a conscious state of mind. If that’s the case, it is a big worry because it puts someone’s life at risk. People might think it’s funny, but it’s not funny at all for me,” Ravi Shastri told ESPNcricinfo.
“It shows that the person who is trying to do it is in a state that you would say not appropriate. And, when you are in that kind of state and are trying something, then one mistake, chances of mistakes are even more in a situation like that. So, it is not acceptable at all.”
How should the board handle a perpetrator who carries out such an activity. “Life ban for that person. As simple as that,” says Ravi Shastri.
“Send him to a rehab centre as quickly as possible. Let him not come near a cricket field again. Then he’ll realise how funny or not funny it is.”
Here is Yuzvendra Chahal’s version of the story, that he revealed in a video for Rajasthan Royals: “This dates back to 2013, when I was with Mumbai Indians. We had a match in Bengaluru and there was a get-together after that. So there was a player who was very drunk – and I won’t take his name – he was very drunk, he just called me aside, and he took me outside and he hung me out from the balcony.
“I was holding on to him, with my arms around his neck. If I had lost my grip, we were on the 15th floor… Suddenly many people who were there came and handled the situation. I kind of fainted, and they gave me water. Then I realised how responsible we need to be when we go anywhere. So that was one incident where I made a narrow escape. Had there been a small mistake there, I would have fallen down.”
Meanwhile, Yuzvendra Chahal has been excellent so far for RR, picking up 7 wickets in 3 matches, and has bowled at a brilliant economy of 5.25.
