Sunil Gavaskar speaks up on his controversy with Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma
Sunil Gavaskar said neither he blamed Virat Kohli's actor-wife Anushka Sharma for India captain's failure nor he made any sexist remarks
Dubai: Sunil Gavaskar said neither he blamed Virat Kohli's actor-wife Anushka Sharma for India captain's failure nor he made any sexist remarks during an IPL match and his comments were being misinterpreted.
Kohli had a bad day in office on Thursday when he led Royal Challengers Bangalore against Kings XI Punjab. He dropped two catches of rival skipper KL Rahul and managed only a run off five balls in RCB's chase.
While Kohli was still at crease, Gavaskar said India captain is keen to improve and he knows that he can do so only by practicing more and more. He then added that during the lockdown Kohli faced only Anushka's bowling and it is showing that it did not help much.
Gavaskar was speaking in Hindi when he made the comment.
However, the comment did not go down well with Kohli and Anushka's fans and some even demanded his sacking from Star Sports commentary panel, lashing out at him on social media.
Reacting to it, Anushka also issued a statement on her Instagram page and said that Gavaskar's message was "distasteful".
Gavaskar though said his comments were not understood in right context.
The remark according to Gavaskar was in reference to a video clip where Kohli and Anushka were seen enjoying some tennis ball cricket in their compound.
"Firstly, I would like to say, where am I blaming her, I'm not blaming her. I am only saying that the video showed she was bowling to Virat. Virat has only played that much bowling in this lockdown period," Gavaskar said.
"It is tennis ball fun game that people have to pass time during the lockdown, so that's all, so where am I blaming her for Virat's failures."
"I'm the one who has always batted for wives going with husbands on tours. I am the one who has always said that like a normal guy going to office for a 9-5 job, when he comes back home, he comes back to his wife, similarly why can't cricketers have their wives with them," Gavaskar said.
"I'm just only stating what was seen on the video which was maybe recorded by somebody in the neighbouring buildings and put up and that's the only thing I'm doing, but the point I'm trying to make is that there was no practice for anybody including Virat in the lockdown.