Don't blame Marshneil Gavaskar for her husband's inane remark

Sunil Gavaskar, of all people, should have known better. Recalling the treatment crowds at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens meted out to him after he was dismissed in the second innings against the West Indies in 1983 – and after his first-ball dismissal in the first innings – Gavaskar wrote, ‘What got me hopping mad, and something I will never forgive, is the crowd throwing fruit and rubbish at my wife… Here were people who talked about culture and respecting women, throwing fruits at the wife of a player who has played for thirteen years. And for one bad shot?... Why her? It was not her fault.’

Indeed, it was not Marshneil Gavaskar’s fault that her husband had flunked on the field. And it wasn’t Anushka Sharma’s fault that Virat Kohli dropped two catches of KL Rahul and then got out cheaply on Thursday. So Gavaskar’s on-air comment, ‘Ab joh lockdown tha to sirf Anushka ki bowling ki practice ki unhone. Wo video dekhi hai [reference to a video showing Virat and Anushka playing in Mumbai building premises], usse to kuch nahi hona hai (During the recent lockdown, he only practised to Anushka’s bowling. I saw the video. But that’s not going to be enough.)

Much has been made of the initial misquote -- ‘bowling ki practice’ being quoted as ‘gendon ki practice’ – but the ‘correction’ hardly makes a difference. Gavaskar unnecessarily dragged in Kohli’s wife while talking about the cricketer’s performance. That’s the oldest, lamest swipe in the book. All we can say is that Marshneil Gavaskar has nothing to do with her husband’s inane, offensive remark.