India skipper Virat Kohli had a bad day in office on Thursday when he led Royal Challengers Bangalore against Kings XI Punjab on Thursday. 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 the crease, legendary Indian batsman and currently a commentator, Sunil Gavaskar said that the India captain is keen to improve and he knows that he can do so only by practising more and more. He went on to add that during the coronavirus lockdown, Kohli had faced only his wife Anushka Sharma's bowling and it is showing that it did not help much. He was speaking in Hindi when he made the comment.
Reacting to it, Anushka also issued a statement on her Instagram page and said that Gavaskar's message was "distasteful".
"That, Mr Gavaskar, your message is distasteful is a fact but I would love for you to explain why you thought of making such a sweeping statement on a wife accusing her for her husband's game?
"I'm sure over the years you have respected the private lives of every cricketer while commenting on the game. Don't you think you should have an equal amount of respect for me and us?" Sharma said.
Gavaskar though said his comments were not understood in the 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 told India Today channel.
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.
" #Anushka remained quiet when I was threatened and called Haramkhor but today the same misogyny coming to bite her, I condemn the fact that she was dragged in to cricket by #SunilGavaskar but selective feminism is equally uncool," tweeted Kangana Ranaut.
Anushka Arora said that such comments really need to stop, it's really backwards and very, very unnecessary.
Chaiti Narula tweeted that it is hard to believe that Sunil Gavaskar made such statements.
On the other hand, some people condemned the criticism that a legend like Sunil Gavaskar has faced on this issue
Former India cricketer Kirti Azad said, "Don't make it feminist or personal issue. "