In the commentary box, Gavaskar came up with a comment involving Kohli’s actor wife Anushka. (BCCI/IPL and FILE)

Cricket icon Sunil Gavaskar on Friday found himself in the midst of a controversy for remarks about Virat Kohli and his wife actor Anushka Sharma in his commentary during an IPL match. “It’s 2020 and things still don’t change for me. When will I stop getting dragged into cricket and stop being used to pass sweeping statements?” Sharma said.

In the commentary box, Gavaskar had said: “Ab joh lockdown tha to sirf Anushka ki bowling ki practice ki unhone, wo video dekhi hai (reference to a viral video), usse to kuch nahi hona hai (During the recent lockdown he only practised to Anushka’s bowling, I saw a video. But that is not going to be enough).

Here is the video we all have been talking about. #Gavaskar #AnushkaSharma #ViratKohli @imVkohli @AnushkaSharma #ipl #rcb #SunilGavaskar pic.twitter.com/aCRtB6Pr2x

— Vishal Ghandat (@vishalghandat1) September 25, 2020

Gavaskar was referring to a video clip that went viral after it was posted on a Kohli fan page. In the video, Kohli can be seen bowling to Anushka before taking to the stumps. The video then shows Anushka bowling to him.

Finally after soo much long time saw Virat Batting ??
Virat Anushka playing cricket in building today??
Anushka bowls a Bouncer to Virat??#ViratKohli #AnushkaSharma #Cricket pic.twitter.com/XFmfs3hiBt

— Virarsh (@Cheeku218) May 15, 2020

Gavaskar’s remark, however, did not go down well with Kohli’s fans, with some urging the BCCI to remove him from the commentary panel.

‘Where am I blaming her?’: Sunil Gavaskar responds to Anuskha Sharma

Reacting to Gavaskar’s comment, Anushka Sharma posted on instagram: “Mr. Gavaskar your message is distasteful is a fact but I would love for you to explain why you thought of making such a sweeping statement on a wife accusing her for her husband’s game? I am sure over the years you have respected the private lives of every cricketer while commentating on the game. ”

Anushka Sharma’s reply on her Instagram story.

Gavaskar’s remarks were during an IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) . Kohli dropped his KXIP counterpart KL Rahul twice — once in the 17th over at deep square-leg when he was batting on 83 and then again in the 18th over when he was on 89. The KXIP skipper then went on to shatter a few record on the way to a 69-ball 132 — the highest scored by an Indian in an IPL game.

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