Suspended Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul called back home,

12 JANUARY 2019

Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul have been suspended pending an inquiry into comments they made about women on a television show this week, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Friday. Hardik Pandya have been heavily criticised on social media for remarks that have been widely condemned as sexist and inappropriate made on the show where he appeared with Rahul.

The length of their suspensions is not known, but the duo look set to miss the one-day international series in Australia starting on Saturday and a limited-overs tour of New Zealand. The Committee of Administrators (CoA) asked the pair to explain the comments and Pandya apologised but after considering their reply, the BCCI decided to charged both players for misconduct and indiscipline.

"The duo is now called upon to provide an explanation as to why they should not be proceeded against for misconduct and indiscipline under Rule 41 of the BCCI Constitution within a period of 7 (seven) days," the BCCI said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the saga is set to affect the Indian team who are ready to shift focus to white-ball cricket with the ODI series against Australia. In the pre-match media interaction, India captain Virat Kohli condemned the comments made by Pandya and Rahul, calling them "inappropriate".  

Pandya had boasted about hooking up with multiple women and being open about it with his parents during the interview. Rahul was, however, a shade more restrained in his responses. The comments sparked a massive social media outrage with calling the remark 'crass' and 'sexist'. It prompted the Indian cricket board to issue show cause notice to the duo. 

Hardik Pandya later offered "regrets" in response to the show cause notice from BCCI. He also vowed never to repeat the behaviour. Pandya also apologised for his remarks on Twitter, saying he got "carried away by the nature" of the show.

Here's all you need to know about the controversy and its fallout: