Sundar Raman, Reliance Industries’s CEO has denied any reports of the IPL franchise, Mumbai Indians asking the BCCI to speed-up Hardik Pandya‘s probe. Meanwhile, as reported by the Times of India, MI was keen on having Pandya for the IPL 2019; thus pushing the board to start with the probe soon. However, the pair of Pandya-Rahul is suspended pending an inquiry by the BCCI and the CoA for their conduct on the famous TV show, Koffee with Karan.
Suspended Pandya to stay on sidelines until cleared
As the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) along with the CoA have decided to keep the star players on the sidelines; the future seems to stand in the limbo for them.
Early this month, they faced immediate suspension from the on-field cricket, ruling them out of the Australia series. Though their absence seemed to have hurt the team balance, India managed to beat Australia 2-1 in the three-match series.
However, all didn’t go well for Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul later. Not only they lost advertisements, the Khar Gymkhana in Mumbai even terminated Pandya’s contract. Furthermore, CoA had asked the Supreme Court of India to appoint an ombudsman to look into the matter. What’s worst? The SC is yet to elect one, and therefore, the probe into the case is getting delayed.
No IPL 2019, World Cup for KL and Hardik?
Earlier, they missed the Australia ODIs; and now, they got ruled out of New Zealand’s limited-overs series, which begins on January 23 in Napier. Meanwhile, Hardik and KL could well miss the IPL 2019 and the World Cup to follow in England, if the inquiry takes time to start. Though no word has been out on when it would begin, the pair is hopeful of escaping any punishment. However, the BCCI has asked the CoA to continue with the inquiry, but in the meantime allow the players to play.