Indian cricketer Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul have been at the center of stern criticism, amid the ‘sexist, racist and misogynistic’ comments made by them on Koffee with Karan. While the pair was ruled out of the ODI series against Australia as well as the whole of New Zealand tour, former Indian captain Rahul Dravid has asked the critics to ‘not overreact’.
“It is not that players did not make mistakes in the past. It is not that mistakes will not be made in the future despite our best efforts to educate the youth. But let us not overreact please,” Dravid told The Hindu on Monday.
“Players come from different teams and their roles of responsibility need to be addressed. Issues will always be there and we have to educate and guide then. They should be told they can’t abuse the system. I learnt from watching seniors in Karnataka, from parents and coaches. They were my role models. No one sat me down and gave me a lecture. I observed and learnt. The best learning process happens in the dressing room from your seniors. But we should not over-react.
“People forget in the past also incidents have happened. Today it gets highlighted more but I agree we need to keep mentoring them, educating them because challenges today are different on and off the field. They have to remember their responsibilities as Indian cricketers. It can’t be everything was great earlier and everything is bad today.”
