Sunil Gavaskar could land in trouble for his crass remark on Jaydev Unadkat

Former Indian cricketer and a current commentator, Sunil Gavaskar, could pretty much land in trouble for a remark he made after the recently concluded first T20I between India and South Africa. Gavaskar was heard passing a distasteful comment on Indian pacer Jaydev Unadkat during the live broadcast of the game. Unadkat had fetched a whopping sum at the IPL auctions this year.

This was largely due to the fact that he was one of the leading bowlers in the IPL last season. However, the words of Sunil Gavaskar indicated that the pacer did not deserve such high bids. Gavaskar went on to remark that Unadkat perhaps used the money to fetch a place in the Indian playing eleven for the South Africa series. He tried to cover up by saying that it was a joke and then tried to praise Unadkat for his performances. However, it remains to be seen how the BCCI sees the incident.

“As far as Jaydev Unadkat is concerned, I think he was just bought for so much money. Maybe he might have splashed that money to make sure that he played in the final XI,” Sunil Gavaskar had said after the first T20I.

“I am joking of course. He has such a good record in the IPL last year. He bowled exceptionally well when he was playing for the Pune team and clearly they wanted a left-hander in their ranks as well. He has got a good yorker. He bowls at a good pace – 140kmph. And the slower delivery that he has developed is also pretty deceptive,” the former cricketer tried to cover up.

Blasts from the past

It is worth noting that the BCCI have been very stern in their approach to the commentators crossing the lines. During the ICC World T20 2016, Harsha Bhogle was sacked from his position for having praised the opposition side more than the Indian team. Back in the year 2012, Arun Lal was removed from the panel of commentators after he had ‘allegedly’ commentated in the Bangladesh Premier League, a competitor of the IPL.

In another incident, Danny Morrison and Hylton Deon Ackerman found themselves being warned by the BCCI for having called Virat Kohli as ‘the captain-in-waiting’ during as IPL game in the year 2013. Also, Sanjay Manjrekar was warned for “allegedly criticising” N. Srinivasan and Sundar Raman in a webcast.

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