Online streaming platform Hotstar took down the Koffee With Karan episode featuring Hardik Pandya and K.L. Rahul after they received massive criticism for making sexist and misogynist comments on the show. This comes a day after the BCCI chief Vinod Rai recommended a two-ODI ban on the cricketers.
The Koffee with Karan page on Hotstar now opens to a previous episode featuring Sonam, Rhea and Harshvardhan Kapoor. According to Scroll.in, the link for the Pandya episode led to a ‘404-page not found’ page.
Also read: BCCI Chief Recommends Two-ODI Ban for Pandya and Rahul After ‘Koffee with Karan’ Appearance
After the episode aired on January 6, 2019, people criticised Pandya’s sexist and misogynistic comments. Two days later, Pandya took to Twitter to post a statement of apology saying that he “got carried away with the nature of the show”.
— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) January 9, 2019
The apology came after the BCCI, on January 9, 2019, issued a show cause notice to the players asking them to “give an explanation” within 24 hours.
However, the very same day Rai told PTI that he wasn’t “convinced with Hardik’s explanation” on Twitter.
Also read: Hardik Pandya’s Misogyny on ‘Koffee With Karan’ is Yet Another Reminder of Our Culture of Silence
“It will be considered whether players should even be allowed to appear on such shows which have got nothing to do with cricket,” a BCCI source added.
According to NDTV, Virat Kohli said that the other cricketers on the team don’t align with the views and opinions of Pandya and Rahul and that the players “have understood the magnitude of what’s happened.”
NDTV quoted Kohli at a press conference as saying, “We as the Indian cricket team and responsible cricketers don’t align with those views, those were individual opinions. We are still waiting for a decision to be made.”
“From the Indian cricket team’s point of view, this changes nothing in our beliefs in the change room, it does nothing to the spirit we have have been able to create. Combinations will have to be thought of once the decision comes out,” Kohli added.
Featured image credit: Screengrab