Former India coach Ravi Shastri has urged the authorities to ban the offender who put Yuzvendra Chahal's life at risk after getting drunk.
Rajasthan Royals and Team India spinner Chahal on Friday (April 8) shocked the cricketing world with a big statement when he said that during IPL 2013 when he was a part of the Mumbai Indians (MI) setup, he was hung from the balcony by a cricketer, who was drunk. However, the leggie did not name the offender.
“I never told this story, from today everyone will know. I never shared this. This dates back to 2013 when I was with Mumbai Indians we had a match in Bangalore. There was a get-together after that. So there was a player who was very drunk, I won’t say his name. He was very drunk, he was looking at me for a long time and he just called me and he took me outside and he hung me on the balcony,” said Chahal in the video.
Royals’ comeback stories ke saath, aapke agle 7 minutes hum #SambhaalLenge #RoyalsFamily | #HallaBol | @goeltmt pic.twitter.com/RjsLuMcZhV
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) April 7, 2022
"And my hands were around him, like this (behind the neck). Had I lost my grip, I was on the 15th floor."
"Suddenly many people who were there came and they handled it. I kind of fainted, they gave me water."
The comments made by Chahal have prompted many reactions and former Indian cricketer and coach Shastri is also one of them.
"The person involved not being in a conscious state of mind is very worrying. It's a big worry, not funny at all," Shastri told ESPNcricinfo.
"It is the first time I am hearing such a drastic thing like this. It is not funny at all. If such an incident happens today, a life ban for that person involved and send that person to a rehab centre as quickly as possible. Life ban, better not come near to a cricket field then he will realise how funny is it or not funny," he stated further.
Shastri also said that it is important for players to report incidents like these immediately and one does not need to wait for "an unfortunate incident to wake up".
"You do not want an unfortunate incident for you to wake up, if something like that happens, you have to step up and tell the people concerned. Just like you are told by the Anti-Corruption Unit when there is an approach made by someone or the other when it comes to fixing, it is your job to approach the authorities to let them know," said Shastri.
Earlier, former India batter Virender Sehwag reacted to the revelations made by Chahal and said that the incident cannot be treated as fun and the name of the offender should be revealed.
He tweeted a picture from a scene of Lage Raho Munnabhai where Sanjay Dutt's character has hung a man from the balcony.
Sehwag Deleted Tweet about Yuzi Chahal
(5/n) pic.twitter.com/l0kGfwgQd9
— VJV (@vjvwebworld) April 9, 2022
Sehwag also wrote: "Important to reveal name of player who as per Chahal did this to him in a drunk state. If true, this cannot be treated as fun, important to know what happened and what action was taken considering the seriousness of this."
