Indian team doesn't support Pandya, Rahul comments on women: Kohli
Sydney, Jan 11: Captain Virat Kohli on Friday said the Indian team doesn't stand by Hardik Pandya and K L Rahul for making "inappropriate" comments on women during a TV show but insisted that the controversy won't affect the dressing room morale.
Kohli said that the availability of both Pandya and Rahul for the ODI series against Australia would depend on any action that the BCCI might take on Friday.
"From the Indian cricket team point of view, any inappropriate comments that are made in that scenario are something that we definitely don't support...and that has been communicated (to the two players)," said Kohli on the eve of the ODI series opener against Australia.
"...We definitely don't align with those views and those are purely individual views. The two concerned players (have) felt what has gone wrong and they have understood the magnitude of what's happened."
Kohli admitted the the two players have been hit hard by the controversy.
"...they will definitely understand the things that have not gone right. We are still waiting for a decision to be made," he said.
When asked if this had an impact on the dressing room after a first-ever Test series' win in Australia, and if it causes a distraction as the Men in Blue start their preparation towards the 2019 World Cup, Kohli said, "Whatever has happened is unfortunate but there are certain things that are out of your control.
"You just need to sit back and wait and watch them unfold. From the combination and team balance point of view, yes when something like that happens you will have to think of what is the combination you need to go in with now."
The Committee of Administrators chief Vinod Rai on Thursday recommended a two-ODI ban on Pandya and Rahul but fellow COA member Diana Edulji referred the matter to the BCCI's legal cell.
Kohli said the team remains in high spirits following the unprecedented success in the recently concluded Test series.
"You don't have control over these things so you have to adjust with the situation... The combinations will have to be thought about once the decision comes out (from the BCCI) and from there on...," he said.
"It does nothing to the spirit that we've been able to create within the change room and these are purely individual opinions and something which as I said is inappropriate," Kohli added.
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'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
