Former Australian and Rajasthan Royals leg spinner Shane Warne has found the reactions to both Pandya and Rahul to be ‘ridiculous’ called for everyone to ‘let them be’.
After the duo of Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul were slammed for their controversial comments on the TV show ‘Koffee with Karan’ hosted by Karan Johar, former Australian cricketer Shane Warne has come to their defence.
They were shown a show cause notice by the cricket board BCCI and were suspended. However, their suspension was lifted until the next hearing in the Supreme Court which allowed KL Rahul to play for India A against England Lions and for Pandya to travel to New Zealand for the limited overs series.
But the Aussie legend labelled the entire Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul controversy as ‘ridiculous’ and called for everyone to ‘let them be’. “Good lord. As I said, it’s all about political correctness these days. If a player steps out of line, everybody has an opinion and I thought that this particular thing was ridiculous. Just let them be,” said Warne to Times of India.
“We live in a world that’s increasingly becoming politically correct. And what we want to see from sportspersons is them being real. We want to see their emotions, see them playing with freedom, expressing themselves. We don’t want to see them conforming. For instance, most player interviews these days go like this: Question: Well, that was a fantastic result today. How do you feel? Answer: Well, it was a great team effort. Everybody played well and did their part. I’m just trying my best and happy to contribute to the team – That’s what everyone says. Guys have to get more real,” he added.
Warne also then went on to heap praise on the Indian skipper Virat Kohli and said that his attitude of not sticking to the regular line made him popular amongst the fans.
“He’s fantastic. I love watching him bat and I love listening to him. I am a big fan. You know what he does? He stands up for what he believes in. He speaks how he feels and he’s real. He’s emotional, a bit too emotional sometimes on the field. But that’s the part of the charm.”
“I think world cricket loves him. Everyone loves Virat Kohli because it’s refreshing to hearing him talk so honestly and openly. He loves confrontation. That’s why he has those 100s in chases. How many, 23, 24? The next best is how much? I can’t remember who’s second. That’s something inbuilt into you. That’s not skill or talent. He’s got a lot of that. That is just pure competitiveness and pure desire – to get the job done,” said Warne.
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