'Should be kicked out of commentary box' - Fans lash out at Sunil Gavaskar for 'distasteful' comment on Shimron Hetmyer's wife

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has again found himself in hot waters for making a controversial remark while commentating. During Rajasthan Royals’ clash against Chennai Super Kings on Friday (May 20), Gavaskar made a ‘distasteful’ comment on Shimron Hetmyer which didn’t go down well with the fans. Notably, Hetmyer had left the RR bio-bubble a few days back to attend the birth of his first child.

The game against CSK marked his comeback in the line-up and the southpaw came to bat at number six. The Royals needed 47 off 31 balls when the Caribbean dasher arrived and the contest was somewhat in balance. That’s when Gavaskar tried to be cheeky and ended up making a controversial remark which irked the netizens.

“Hetmyer’s wife delivered; will Hetmyer deliver for the Royals now?” Gavaskar was heard saying during commentary. Fans on social media lashed out at Gavaskar for making such a statement. In fact, several followers of the game even urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to ban him from commentating.

Shimron Hetmyer couldn’t make his bat talk on comeback

Meanwhile, Hetmyer endured a rare failure this season as he could only manage six off seven balls. Although he did smash a fine boundary down the ground, the 25-year-old fell prey to leg-spinner Prashant Solanki while trying to up the ante. Nonetheless, his teammate Ravichandran Ashwin played a fine knock to take his side over the line.

The off-spinner, who also recorded figures of 1/28 in his quota of four overs, scored an unbeaten 40 off just 23 deliveries. As a result, RR crossed the line with a couple of deliveries to spare, clinching the contest by five wickets. With this triumph, the inaugural-season champions have also secured the second place in the team standings.

Meanwhile, this is not the first occasion when Gavaskar’s on-air comments ignited a controversy. During IPL 2020, the former opener took Virat Kohli’s wife Anushka Sharma’s name while talking about the batter’s performance. Alongside fans, Anushka had also slammed the 1983 World Cup winner for making the ‘sexist’ statement.

Let’s look at how Twitter reacted to Sunil Gavaskar’s remark on Shimron Hetmyer:

Sunil Gavaskar said, "Shimron Hetmyer's wife has delivered, will he deliver now for the Royals".

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 20, 2022

Why Sunil Gavaskar why? #hetmeyer #RRvsCSK

— Nirav Patani (@nirav_patani) May 20, 2022

Sunil Gavaskar on Tv – "Hetmyer's wife delivered, will he deliver?"

Not sure whether we have commentators or troll on tv.#IPL2022 #CSKvsRR #SunilGavaskar

— Bjp slayer (@BjpSlayer) May 20, 2022

Sunil Gavaskar needs this type of treatment again. pic.twitter.com/nRcNiLmEDm

— Aditya (@Adityakrsaha) May 20, 2022

Sunil Gavaskar: Hetmyer's wife Delivered. Will he deliever for Royals Now?

Kya aadmi hain yaar yeh Sunil Gavaskar#IPL2022#RRvCSK #CricketTwitter

— Dheeraj Singh (@Dheerajsingh_) May 20, 2022

Dedicated to Mr. Sunil Gavaskar – pic.twitter.com/gEKlEhE39a

— Pallavi Anand (@PallaviSAnand) May 20, 2022

But Sunny G is a Legend of the game so no one can say anything to him. https://t.co/TWvgwY8PpB

— Aditya (@Adityakrsaha) May 20, 2022

You have a reason to fire him now @IPL https://t.co/0gJMUaElyU

— Pradhyoth (@Pradhyoth1) May 20, 2022

Sunil Gavaskar should be kicked out from commentary panel. First he should learn to respect others players.#CSKvsRR #IPL2022

— Arjit Gupta (@guptarjit) May 20, 2022

'So' called legend Sunil gavaskar some words during commentary today-: "Now Hetmyer's wife has delievered, now he has to deliver today". Are you kidding me?? These are the words of a commentator who is commentating in world's best league. That's Pathetic.

— Vaibhav Mishra (@heyy_vaibhav) May 20, 2022

Sunil Gavaskar is one of the worst and most shameless commentators around. He has no sense of reality and still living in the 80s making these crass jokes. He should be banned immediately. And please have a woman commentator in the booth so these old men can learn some respect. https://t.co/nEw7i92RPw

— Himansh (@HimanshSingla_) May 20, 2022

Sunil Gavaskar shd be kicked out from com box, he is getting royalty for being one of the best test batsmen of all time while our ears bleed https://t.co/nsuNtzhmtX

— Kartik 🇮🇳 (@indicpolymath) May 20, 2022