Gavaskar faced a lot of anger on Twitter for a comment she made about Anushka helping Kohli with her practice during the Covid-19-induced lockdown, with the actress herself demanding an explanation from the legendary cricketer.
“We Indians lack a sense of humor. If Sunil had said that about Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli, it would have been in a humorous tone and not in bad or derogatory taste,” Engineer said while speaking to Pakistan Observer.
“Knowing Sunil Gavaskar well, I’m sure he would have been joking. Even in my case, people took it very seriously with the result that Anushka had to come out with her statement,” said the engineer, who during The 2019 ICC World Cup, had been embroiled in a similar controversy after he reportedly said that all the Indian selectors were doing in England was getting “cups of tea” from Anushka.
Gavaskar himself has issued a clarification, saying his comments were misinterpreted.
“As you can hear in the comment, Aakash (Chopra) and I were making comments for a Hindi channel. And Aakash was talking about the fact that there has been very little chance that everyone can practice properly. That has been shown in the oxidation of some of the players in their first matches, “Gavaskar told India Today.
“Rohit (Sharma) didn’t hit the ball well in his first game, MSD (MS Dhoni) did not hit the ball well, Virat (Kohli) did not hit the ball either. Most of the hitters have done it for lack of practice, “he said.
“That was the point that was being made. Virat also had no practice and the only practice they had when they saw them play in their building and Anushka was bowling to him. That’s what I said,” he added.
The former captain of India further explained: “She was bowling to him, that’s all. Where do I blame her? Where am I being sexist in this? I’m just saying what was seen in the video that maybe was recorded by someone in the neighboring buildings and then place them. That’s the only thing I’m doing. ”
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