New Delhi: Cricketers facing reprimands and talks for their on-field behaviour is not unusual but it’s rare for a television appearance to spark nationwide outrage and lead to a suspension. Back in 2019, KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya made their guest appearances on Karan Johar’s ‘Koffee With Karan’ show. Their statements created a massive uproar with both the cricketers getting suspended ahead of the Australia series for their allegedly sexist, misogynistic, and racist remarks.
Speaking on the infamous episode for the first time, Rahul admitted the incident’ scared’ him. “The interview was a different world. That changed me, completely changed me. I was a very shy, soft-spoken boy growing up. Then I played for India and became very confident, I had no problem being in a huge group of people. People will know I have been in a room of 100 people because I would talk to everyone,” he continued.
“Now I don’t do that because that interview scarred me massively. Getting suspended from the team. I have never been suspended in school, I have never been punished in school. All this never happened to me. I didn’t know how to handle it,” added the star Indian batter.
Such was the impact of that interview, that the makers had to remove the episode from the streaming platform. The wicket-keeper batter drew comparisons from his school days and revealed that he had never faced such severe consequences before. “I did mischievous things in schools like chota mota (small things), but nothing to get me expelled from school or my parents have had to come. That was my first, and then you realise how bad it is,” said Rahul.
While Pandya’s comments were criticised as sexist and Rahul, who remained composed, too faced a probe from the BCCI. He said that he was ‘bitter for a bit’ and that the episode ‘affected and bothered’ him. “I was angry, but I came out of it all as a more accepting person. I understood that certain things are sensitive, and no matter what you do, certain people will find the bad in you,” he reflected.
