Hardik Pandya- K L Rahul fallout: Is mandatory sensitisation for cricketers the need of the hour?

An appearance on a talk show with a leading filmmaker should be a massive brand boost for two up-and-coming cricketers. Maybe that’s what Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul thought when they sat on Koffee With Karan’s couch earlier this week. But what transpired over the next one hour was nothing short of what they would call a series of false shots in cricketing parlance. Pandya uttered one sexist remark after another with a nonchalance that would have made Donald Trump proud and Rahul giggled along. The two cricketers are now facing criticism from all corners and they only have themselves to blame for this hit wicket. They aren’t the first international cricketers to be so blatantly sexist on prime-time TV, just the first Indians. The episode has highlighted the need of sensitising young cricketers who many believe live in a ‘bubble’ due to the adulation they receive. The Indian cricket board has proposed that not only do these two cricketers not be allowed back into the team without proper sensitisation but the exercise be extended to all centrally-contracted cricketers in India.