Rahul Dravid, the current India A, and U-19 coach has broken his silence over the ongoing controversy. He has also coached the pair at the junior level.
What’s the story?
Many former cricketers and media moguls have expressed their views over the Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul controversy. While some of them were found to be very critical about the matter, some of them have supported the “move on” proposition.
Recently, Rahul Dravid, the current India A, and U-19 coach has broken his silence over the ongoing controversy. He has also coached the pair at the junior level. However, Dravid has urged people not to ‘overreact’.
The background
Indian players Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul are suspended from tours of Australia as well as New Zealand due to the ‘sexist, racist and misogynistic’ comments made by the pair on the talk show Koffee with Karan.
Both are facing a provisional suspension as of now, but after a thorough investigation into the matter, the extent of the final punishment is yet to be known.
The detail
Dravid, the former Indian captain, who is known to the world for his simplicity and superb conduct, has shared his viewpoint on the raging controversy.
One of the most admired cricket players around the world, Dravid has asked the people not to ‘overreact’ on the matter and also mentioned players need to be educated or trained on how should they carry themselves off the field.
“It is not that players did not make mistakes in the past. It is not that mistakes will not be made in the future despite our best efforts to educate the youth. But, let us not overreact please,” he told The Hindu.
According to Dravid, “Players come from different teams and their roles of responsibility need to be addressed. Issues will always be there and we have to educate and guide them. They should be told they cannot abuse the system.
“People forget in the past also incidents have happened. Today, it gets highlighted more but I agree we need to keep mentoring them, educating them because challenges today are different on and off the field,” Dravid added.
What’s Next?
In the latest report, the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators is mulling a behavioural counselling programme for Indian cricketers at all age levels.
Implementation of such a wonderful initiative into the Indian cricket under the watchful eyes of Dravid and Anil Kumble, as hinted by Saba Karim, will be a great step forward for the budding cricketers.
First published here.
