Pandya, Rahul suspended pending inquiry; to be issued fresh show cause notices
New Delhi, Jan 11: Indian cricketers Hardik Pandya and K L Rahul were Friday suspended pending an inquiry into their outrage-evoking comments on women during a TV show, ruling them out of the ODI series against Australia starting Saturday.
The cricketers, who have been in the eye of a storm following their sexist remarks on 'Koffee with Karan', were omitted from the line-up for the opening match in Sydney.
"Both Pandya and Rahul have been suspended pending an inquiry," the Committee of Administrators (CoA) chairman Vinod Rai told PTI.
A source in the BCCI said the two will be issued fresh show cause notices before a formal enquiry begins.
"Whether it will be an internal committee of the BCCI or an ad hoc ombudsman who will conduct an inquiry, is yet to be ascertained," the official said.
"The Indian team management will take a call on whether they would want to keep the two with the team or send them back. There is a school of thought that they be kept with the team as the backlash back home could be severe but majority in BCCI brass is against the decision," he added.
In case the two are brought back from Australia, the likes of Rishabh Pant and Manish Pandey will be in contention to be their replacements.
"It won't be surprising if two from Vijay Shankar, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey or Rishabh Pant are flown Down Under," the source said.
The decision to hand them suspensions came after Rai's CoA colleague Diana Edulji recommended suspension till further action against the two. This was after the BCCI's legal team refused to declare the duo's comments a violation of the code of conduct.
Edulji had initially suggested a two-match suspension for the duo but referred the matter to the legal cell after Vinod Rai agreed with her and recommended the same.
"It is imperative that players be put under suspension till further course of action is decided for this misconduct as was done in case of (BCCI) CEO (Rahul Johri) when he was sent on leave on sexual harassment matter," read Edulji's response to the legal opinion which is in possession of PTI.
Their remarks on the show were also condemned by India captain Virat Kohli, who called them inappropriate and asserted that the side does not stand by "those individual opinions".
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 on relationships and women.
It is speculated that the BCCI might bar players from appearing on entertainment shows owing to the ongoing furore.
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Man sets himself on fire near Parliament, hospitalised with 95 pc burns
New Delhi, Dec 25: A man in his early 30s is undergoing treatment for 95 per cent burns after he set himself on fire near the new Parliament building on Wednesday afternoon, officials said here.
Delhi Fire Services officials said the incident occurred around 3.35 pm near the Railway Bhawan opposite the Parliament building.
They said security personnel deployed near Parliament rushed the man, identified as Jitendra of Uttar Pradesh's Bagpat, to the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital.
The man suffered 95 per cent deep burns and is undergoing treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the burns department, a professor in the department of medicine at the hospital said.
Dr Pulin Kumar Gupta, who is also the RML's media head, said a team of doctors were taking care of him.
According to an official statement, "He set himself on fire at the roundabout near Rail Bhawan. The local police and railway police, along with some people, immediately extinguished the fire and the person was sent to hospital."
According to initial investigations, the man took the extreme step due to a dispute with some people back home in Bagpat, it said.
Carrying a bag containing some clothes and a notebook, he sat on the footpath for a few minutes before pouring some chemicals over himself and setting himself on fire, a police officer said.
"With his body engulfed in the flames, he ran on the road and fell. Security personnel put the blanket on him to douse the fire," he said.
Police said Jitendra took a train to Delhi's Shahdara railway station on Wednesday morning. His half-burnt backpack and some other belongings were seized from the spot.
A general ticket of Rs 15 has also been recovered from his pocket, police said.
Sources said police have found that some cases were going on against him and his family members in Bagpat and he was upset over it.
The officer said the man's family members have been contacted and further investigations were on.
