”I Still Remember I Did Not Step Out of My House”: Hardik Pandya on ‘Koffee with Karan’ Controversy

India all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been in the news for quite some time now. Be it his controversial comment in Koffee with Karan or his engagement – he has managed to keep himself in the limelight. However, he said that he went through a tough time after his appearance in the ‘Koffee with Karan’ last year.

Pandya appeared on the popular show along with his teammate KL Rahul. There he made controversy by making “misogynistic” and “sexist” comments. After receiving several criticisms from everyone, BCCI suspended them. They did not take part in the ongoing series at that time and flew back to India for the inquiry.

They both had faced show-cause notices by the BCCI as well. According to BCCI Ombudsman DK Jain, they had to pledge Rs 1 lakh each, to the widows of 10 constables in paramilitary forces who lost their lives while on duty. Apart from that. they had to give 20 lakhs each.

After almost a year, Pandya spoke about the entire incident, saying the incident affected him so much that he couldn’t even step out of his house. He shared it took a week or 10 days to realise that he needed to face the things rather than staying in.

Hardik Pandya on the controversy

“I realised that this is kind of an exam that is coming at a difficult phase which you have to get through. I then shifted my focus to my game and forgot what happened. Whether I was going to be suspended for six months or coming back in the next game. I had no idea, it was just rumours,” said Hardik in India Today during its programme ‘Inspiration’.

The 26-year-old allrounder said that a lot of people took him wrongly without even knowing him. Many even referred to him as arrogant as well. But he shared that his teammates were not like that and they genuinely care about him. They looked after him after his return from the incident.

Hardik Pandya has been out of action since September 2019. He underwent a surgery to treat his lower back problem in October and also missed the home series against Bangladesh, West Indies and Sri Lanka. However, he recently failed the fitness test for the upcoming series and dropped from India A team as well.

He has shared that he’s good now after the surgery. Pandya also wished that no one goes through back surgery. However, this was emotionally challenging for him too.

“The recovery has been fantastic, touchwood. Your body was used to giving 100 percent but once your body touches the knife, you have to start giving 200 percent. That’s what we focussed on. You know, it’s not been easy but I have been getting stronger,” he concluded.