Gayle stokes controversy with offensive comments to women journalists.
By Sreekanth A. Nair
West Indian cricket player Chris Gayle is facing the heat after controversial remarks during a television interview to a female British journalist recently, and now in India, to yet another female journalist during the IPL.
Melbourne Renegades has said that the team will not renew his contract for next season’s Big Bash League (BBL), an Australian domestic 20-20 tournament.
According to a Times of India report, the English county club Somerset is also considering action against the batsman for his obscene comments.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is mulling action against the player as another incident happened during the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“The players must behave. We expect the players to adhere to a certain kind of behavior when the tournament is on. The players should maintain the sanctity of the league. These kind of statements are totally uncalled for in public domain. I will take up this issue with the president and the secretary of the BCCI,” IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla told Times of India.
Shukla added that he would take up the issue with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), the team for which Gayle plays in the IPL.
But Ajay Shirke, the newly appointed secretary of BCCI said that they would take action against Gayle only if a complaint is filed with the police against him.
“At this point, we’ll not look into it. We’re focused on completing the IPL, which has reached its final stages. What has happened in this case is between two foreign individuals. It is a personal matter between people who aren’t from India. At the same time, that doesn’t mean that we’ll ignore it. If a complaint is brought to us, we’ll act on it. If it develops into something more, we’ll look into it at an appropriate stage,” Shirke told Times of India.
Chris Gayle stoked the new controversy when he asked the woman journalist during the IPL, “how many black men” she had “had” and whether she dyed her pubic hair. He also said that he had a “very very big bat, the biggest in the wooooorld. You think you could lift it? You’d need two hands.”
The left-hander was fined earlier for flirting with Network Ten journalist Mel McLaughlin during a Big Bash League match.