India Team Discussion

[aditya123]

I`m very conflicted about this `Koffee' controversy because there is a lot of hypocrisy in how it's being handled by the `BCCI' or what is left of it. The whole precedent for the way Pandya and Rahul glorified womanizing on national television was actually set by coach Goti himself. He gave one of the crassest interviews I`ve ever seen by a senior cricketer on that show with Gaurav Kapoor. That followed by the `Goti' interview by the man who basically glorifies drinking and womanizing at every possible opportunity without anyone speaking a word against it. If he can continue being the head of the national team, I don`t see why two really young men who had their first exposure to the world of glamor should be penalized for the things they said. They definitely do not have the years of media experience that someone like Goti has! I`m not defending the contents of their interview. I`m just pointing out the hypocrisy of the men in power. Pandya and Rahul are easy scapegoats. The root cause of this culture lies elsewhere. What about Shastri and the [HASHTAG]#MeToo[/HASHTAG] allegations on the BCCI chief? Banning these two guys for a year won`t fix that mess. It needs an institutional change and the Indian side must wake up to how unlikable they`ve become lately. Our attitude now is no different to the Aussie side under Ponting circa 2008.

For the records, I deplore the on-field and off-field attitudes of the Pandya brothers. Its one reason why I stopped following MI in the IPL since Tendulkar's retirement.

 

[abhi_jacko]

A one year ban would be ridiculous for this episode. Whatever happened was an incident off the field. Ban for one or two games is more than enough for such an incident. A fine on top of that and mandatory sensitivity training for the whole team and staff will suffice

I watched the episode last night (was tough to find it because it got taken down on hotstar). It was so embarrassing to see these two guys shooting themselves in the foot like this. Karan Johars questions are always crass because he is trying to force offensive words from the guests in which he revels. But the way Pandya especially was obliging him with one crap response after another was insane. Pandya's head is so far up his own a** that he couldn't even understand that most of the time Karan was actually mocking him with his questions and comments.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/25732978/hardik-pandya-man-mirror

Just to clarify, is what Hardik said really misogynistic or is it it just crass? There's a difference between the two. I'm not entirely sure what he's said that is necessarily misogynistic or sexist?

It's nothing. It's a typical social media sh!t storm and that's forced this reaction. It's a lesson though for our cricketers to be fake and vanilla in interviews and not themselves. Our nation is over sensitive about things and what Shastri said on a cricket field is far far worse.

Absoultely! Things are being blown out for proportion more often than not in social media these days. More to follow .....

A one year ban would be ridiculous for this episode. Whatever happened was an incident off the field. Ban for one or two games is more than enough for such an incident. A fine on top of that and mandatory sensitivity training for the whole team and staff will suffice

I watched the episode last night (was tough to find it because it got taken down on hotstar). It was so embarrassing to see these two guys shooting themselves in the foot like this. Karan Johars questions are always crass because he is trying to force offensive words from the guests in which he revels. But the way Pandya especially was obliging him with one crap response after another was insane. Pandya's head is so far up his own a** that he couldn't even understand that most of the time Karan was actually mocking him with his questions and comments.

Move this from the tour thread to Indian Cricket Team thread. I do not think anyone ever said about a one year ban. I definitely agree to @aditya123's point that the root cause of all this is somewhere else. For me the root cause is not Shastri, its the IPL and the money it brings to these morons. There are plenty of players in the current Indian side and not all give us a hint of that and they too all are under Shastri as coach. You make a shit ton of money every year from IPL, the after parties, the after after parties.. that is the root cause.

Also no its not a typical shit storm of social media. Things have happened same way before social media. Few years back if cricketers lost your a match or series, their houses were burned or stones thrown.. Remember Yuvraj's house post the T20 WC in Sri Lanka? No one gets spared with or without social media. I am not justifying what people did to Yuvraj's house.

This is more serious, and this shit storm even if it is... its needed. Youngsters idolizing the Pandya's should know that this is unacceptable... Girls out should know who Hardik Pandya is and how he thinks of women. And not only was it really sexist, the constant generalizing the Caribbean community by Hardik saying he feels like a black from West Indies was pure racist that is unacceptable. Imagine someone from outside India said this.. had we said that this has blown out? We as fans need to get more mature and stop accepting this behavior.

Also an IPL ban would have hit them the most. Now they are suspended from ODI's and that does only one thing and that is kill India's preparations. They have all this over-smartness because of IPL. Both of them are out for Australia and New Zealand series.

 

[Till Valhalla]

In my opinion, some of the comments were straight out sexist but others are blown out of proportion.
Blaming IPL for everything wrong is outlandish. They are earning that much money because they are generating 100x more money than that.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

I'm amazed at the 'children watching Pandya' bit and this has come from vast corners of the globe.

First of all, this was a chat show that is broadcast on a channel which encourages parents to use the parent control feature on all shows on the particular channel. It's the main reason why it's broadcast on that channel and not one where most mainstream shows are broadcast.

Secondly, Hardik has not forced himself upon a woman. He is in his twenties and like most twenty year old's has hormones playing up and because he has money now and is loud by nature he appears/is crass. The logic of saying that 'hey that's what kids will learn' is a biological anomaly. They, regardless of the interview will reach a stage where they would desire something sexual or simply approach women/men and strike a chord. It's natural. I'm not here to applaud how crass he was but I applaud him for being himself. Literally every interview these days is vanilla and mugged up. This was candid. It's how it should be if you want to know anything genuine about superstars lives. They are human.

We are all different human beings and it's disgusting that we keep on judging not only those around us but also these blokes who actually have a life. How many of us don't have that one friend who goes to a party and actually rates or wants to be with any woman that moves? As long as he's not forcing himself upon someone or not harassing them, where's the problem? Hardik should just bare the brunt because he's a cricketer and he must be a "role model."

Because I have had people as friends in cricketing circuits, I know what our legends have also indulged in. And you know what? I don't begrudge them one bit. Their struggle, hardships and sacrifice to reach where they have is not understood by most. How many Indians gave a damn when the Pandya brothers would run around trying to escape banking people when they couldn't pay their mortgage? He has earned what he has and his image is being butchered. What Chris Gayle did at a BBL game was shocking and he came out of that just fine.

As long as you don't offend a woman, it's life. People can pretend that they're role models and this and that but they're human first. Most importantly at no point in that interview did I feel that either was violent or serious about anything they said in the interview.

Every young kid today in any part of the world that wants to bowl some leg spin aspires to be a Shane Warne. No one gives a damn that he once said that 'I slept with over a thousand women.' Most left handed batters aspire to be Brian Lara. No one cares that he said 'It's normal to do it more than once in a night.' We should leave the role model bit on a cricket field. Off the field, if someone is within the laws of the country or the touring country then that's their choice. Doesn't take much to pass judgements for us on how others should live.

The way Kohli and Shastri have behaved on a cricket field is 'aggression' but two kids go and have some fun on a chat show and everyone loses their minds. Sounds about right. Sounds India.

EDIT- What on earth did KL Rahul even say to deserve this? Is there any explanation for it?

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Showing aggression on cricket field and boosting about sleeping with x number of women, pointing out that to your parents and once again boosting about it is completely different. Even though its completely different, both get criticized if done in excess. I am amazed to see how some people on the board here are applauding for saying what he felt. NO its not about political correctness, no its not about vanilla or for a fact any other flavored interview. I am done with this topic for now, I am happy Hardik got what he deserved. As far as KL Rahul is concerned, it was a little too harsh on him but should teach him a lesson to have a better company next time.

In trying to be cool, he came out as a fool. You do not force people to think about you as cool, people recognize the cool in you. Captain Cool MSD being one such example.

 

[abhi_jacko]

For the records, I deplore the on-field and off-field attitudes of the Pandya brothers. Its one reason why I stopped following MI in the IPL since Tendulkar's retirement.

Tell me about it. I had a hard time supporting MI despite sachin because even before Pandya brothers they had Bhajji and Munaf, who were equally badly behaved

Once sachin left, there was nothing else worth supporting them (since I'm not from Mumbai in any case)

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

I am from Mumbai and I loved supporting the Tendulkar Jayasuria team but, I do not support because of Pollard and Pandya brothers.

 

[Adarsh]

Absolutely. Ban him from IPL and make sure that the franchise does not pay him the contract money for that particular season.

Also one thing most media outlets covering this story are doing is - not including the most offensive bit that Hardik Pandya spoke on the show (that bit where he tells his parents that he "did it" with multiple girls; and the bit where he introduces to his parents, all the girls that he sleeps with). These two are the biggest offenders in his comments. And it pains me that there are people saying that it is part of democracy for Pandya to be speaking like this and that it is totally cool for him to talk like this, without facing any consequences.

We shouldn't be moral policing here. There's nothing sexist or misogynistic about sleeping around (with consent ofc) or discussing your sex life on a public forum. It might be crass, but its not illegal nor does it go against the spirit of the game/spirit of sport. There's a slight insinuation of a racist assumption (the bit about being from the black side and liking to see how women dance) but that's not egregious.

 

[SaiSrini]

Pandya's father comes out and says that "his son was trying to be entertaining on the show and said all those things in a light hearted manner". Tellings things like "whenever I sleep with a girl, I tell my parents about it" and "I introduce my parents to all the girls that I sleep with" are entertaining to the audience?

We shouldn't be moral policing here. There's nothing sexist or misogynistic about sleeping around (with consent ofc) or discussing your sex life on a public forum. It might be crass, but its not illegal nor does it go against the spirit of the game/spirit of sport. There's a slight insinuation of a racist assumption (the bit about being from the black side and liking to see how women dance) but that's not egregious.

It's not moral policing. As a common man, Pandya can do what he wants and talk what he wants. But as a celebrity and coming from a sport that attracts massive eyeballs in India due to its cult following and also contracted to the BCCI, it's my opinion that he should not be speaking all that he is speaking. Especially in a developing country like India where rapes and women exploitation has been a burning issue and continues to be.

Maybe I am very old fashioned, but its better for certain things to stay hidden because that way, young kids can form their own personalities and the likelihood of it being positive are way higher.

 

[SaiSrini]

The problem in our country is that, we are the second largest population in the world and we passionately discuss on many things as we are a democracy. This means... most of the time when something hits a raw nerve, it can turn out to be hugely debated and can give a feeling that the reaction is OTT. But the OTT factor is ruled here purely by the amount of people talking about it. And this cant be avoided in a country like India.

And it's funny to see Virat Kohli talk about this controversy and wash his hands off it. How many of you feel that Karan Johar got access to these two cricketers through Virat Kohli's wife, who is a very close friend of Karan Johar?

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Showing aggression on cricket field and boosting about sleeping with x number of women, pointing out that to your parents and once again boosting about it is completely different. Even though its completely different, both get criticized if done in excess. I am amazed to see how some people on the board here are applauding for saying what he felt. NO its not about political correctness, no its not about vanilla or for a fact any other flavored interview. I am done with this topic for now, I am happy Hardik got what he deserved. As far as KL Rahul is concerned, it was a little too harsh on him but should teach him a lesson to have a better company next time.

In trying to be cool, he came out as a fool. You do not force people to think about you as cool, people recognize the cool in you. Captain Cool MSD being one such example.

I am not applauding Pandya's character. I myself have been someone who's been serious in relationships, been on the other side of people like Pandya (who were women) and very happily and hundred percent committed in my marriage. At the same time, I have friends who to date will try their hand at any girl in a club without forcing them into anything. Just because I'm cut out of one piece of cloth doesn't mean he should be too. That is the beauty of life.

And you are contradicting yourself massively by saying that it's not about political correctness or vanilla. You are part of the audience who wants to hear certain things. Someone comes along who's edgy and brash and it moves the coffers within you. Embrace different people and how they are my friend. I'm not judging you for liking people who can put on a different image in front of the camera. I get it. You like politically correct people and there's nothing wrong in liking such guys or being that way. Just don't turn around and look down on people who aren't like you or don't agree with you.

You, yourself are saying that KL Rahul was treated harshly. So basically, being on the same couch as a crass Pandya equals suspension but talking about testicles being in someone's mouth on a cricket field by a two decade experienced broadcaster is okay, just because he trims the captain's beard?

Just letting you know- The 'cool' man you mentioned in your last line is someone I am a huge fan of and I can tell you that he was one bad boy in his younger days. The man who wore number 12 was even more of a bad boy. It's just normal and human. The problem in our country is that we treat cricketers like our gods who can never be flawed in any way.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

The problem in our country is that, we are the second largest population in the world and we passionately discuss on many things as we are a democracy. This means... most of the time when something hits a raw nerve, it can turn out to be hugely debated and can give a feeling that the reaction is OTT. But the OTT factor is ruled here purely by the amount of people talking about it. And this cant be avoided in a country like India.

And it's funny to see Virat Kohli talk about this controversy and wash his hands off it. How many of you feel that Karan Johar got access to these two cricketers through Virat Kohli's wife, who is a very close friend of Karan Johar?

There are very few famous people Karan Johar is not friends with. I am no Kohli fan but please let's not drag his wife into this. I request.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Pandya's father comes out and says that "his son was trying to be entertaining on the show and said all those things in a light hearted manner". Tellings things like "whenever I sleep with a girl, I tell my parents about it" and "I introduce my parents to all the girls that I sleep with" are entertaining to the audience?



It's not moral policing. As a common man, Pandya can do what he wants and talk what he wants. But as a celebrity and coming from a sport that attracts massive eyeballs in India due to its cult following and also contracted to the BCCI, it's my opinion that he should not be speaking all that he is speaking. Especially in a developing country like India where rapes and women exploitation has been a burning issue and continues to be.

Maybe I am very old fashioned, but its better for certain things to stay hidden because that way, young kids can form their own personalities and the likelihood of it being positive are way higher.

Are you saying that what he said will encourage people to do such heinous acts?

 

[SaiSrini]

There are very few famous people Karan Johar is not friends with. I am no Kohli fan but please let's not drag his wife into this. I request.

Karan Johar has not had access to cricketers until Anushka Sharma married Kohli. And I am not blaming Anushka here (I've many times posted here in PC that I find it totally wrong and offensive when people target Anushka for Virat's failures). Its just that I found it funny that Virat was talking about this controversy and saying things like "its unacceptable and all" when he LIKELY was instrumental (capitalizing 'likely' as its the operative word) in giving Karan Johar the access to these cricketers.

Are you saying that what he said will encourage people to do such heinous acts?

Not directly. It can be implicit. For e.g. when you treat/respect women like the way Hardik Pandya does, you feel entitled over them. Imagine this sample scenario - a guy who gets inspired by Pandya tomorrow and wants to boast to his parents that "he slept with XYZ woman". And imagine he tries to get into such a situation with a woman and he is not able to achieve it because the woman refuses. What do you think is going to happen with his male ego? Fill in the blanks.....