‘Why is he not fired yet?’ – Sunil Gavaskar faces flak for odd comments on Shimron Hetmyer’s wife

Sunil Gavaskar’s perennial attempt at humour from the commentary box led to some inappropriate remarks, as the Indian batting legend received flak for a comment made on West Indies and Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter Shimron Hetmyer’s wife. 

The incident is from an IPL 2022 game played on Friday (May 20) night. Arriving to the crease against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Hetmyer had his eyes set on allowing RR to overhaul the opposition’s 150/6 in the run-chase. 

Just as he was setting himself up for the first ball at the crease, Gavaskar from the commentary box uttered, “the big question is, Hetmyer’s wife just delivered, will he deliver for the Royals now?”

Sunil Gavaskar’s weird remark followed laughs from behind the commentary box as heard on the television and streaming feed by the global audience.

Sunil Gavaskar’s inappropriate remarks at Shimron Hetmyer’s wife 

The distasteful joke was heard at the start of the 17th over in RR’s run-chase. Having just walked up to the crease, Shimron Hetmyer was going through his pre-ball routine for the over due to be delivered by CSK’s Prashant Solanki. 

Just prior to the first ball, Sunil Gavaskar was heard from the commentary box making an attempted joke on Hetmyer’s situation as he made his comeback to RR jersey after going back for the birth of his first child. 

Also Read – MS Dhoni’s painstakingly slow 26 off 27 hurts CSK; fans react in disappointment

Gavaskar picked his moment and said since the batter’s wife just delivered their baby, can the batter too do so for his team under pressure? It was a joke that didn’t go down well with the fans on social media as they let their anger be known via tweets. 

Here is how some of them reacted: 

Imagine intermixing Cricket with personal life.

Gavaskar has been annoying since very long but Why Star Sports hasn’t fired him till now ?

Awful. https://t.co/xecbllDVD9

— Tukun (@SuvTK7) May 20, 2022

#SunilGavaskar cannot just keep women’s names out of his mouth.

Unbelievable. https://t.co/j68fMvgSpo

— Kaushikk Ravikumar | Vikram Stan acc (@filterkaappiyum) May 20, 2022

Why would you even bring someone’s personal life into cricket commentary? This is unacceptable 😳 https://t.co/PQL7FZCqrh

— Niharika Raina (@niharika_raina) May 20, 2022

An experienced commentator, Sunil Gavaskar would be disappointed over his comments if he looks back at them, especially at a time when fans and prominent voices have been championing the cause of greater sensitivity while taking of players’ personal lives and respecting their privacy.