Diana Edulji slams Farokh Engineer for his claim of selectors serving tea to Anushka Sharma

Former India wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer recently found himself at the wrong end of a controversy after he slammed the current India selectors by questioning their credentials and even accused one of them of serving tea to Anushka Sharma, the wife of India captain Virat Kohli, during the ICC World Cup in England and Wales earlier this year.

Anushka came up with a lengthy response to Engineer’s claim on social media while chief selector MSK Prasad advised the 81-year-old to care for his age and not indulge in “petty talks”. And now, former India captain has lashed out at Engineer over the matter and even questioned his knowledge of cricket. The former captain is former Committee of Administrators (CoA) member Diana Edulji.

Diana Edulji calls Farokh Engineer’s statement ‘foolish’

Edulji, 63, was disappointed with “old friend” Engineer and said he should have given it a thought before making a “foolish statement”. “He is an old friend. For someone whom I have known for years, I am surprised that his knowledge of cricket is so poor. I wish he had thought a bit before making such a foolish statement. I don’t want to say further because I respect his cricket and he should respect the cricket that I have played,” Edulji, who played 20 Tests and 34 ODIs, was quoted as saying by News 18.

Engineer later clarified his remarks saying he had no intention of targeting Anushka and said the matter was blown out of proportion unnecessarily. Edulji also advised Engineer, who played 46 Tests and five ODIs in the 1960s and 70s, to not discriminate between men’s and women’s cricket and get personal by questioning the amount of player the BCCI selectors have played in their careers.

“He should not get personal. A selector is a selector whether he has played one Test or 100. I would just advise him that in the twilight zone of his life he should learn to watch his words and not put his foot in his mouth. There is not much difference between numbers of international games we both have played,” she said.

Anushka said in her hard-hitting response to Engineer that she was being targeted with “ill-intended lies” and refused to agree with the point that she was served tea saying she sat in the family box during the World Cup and not with the selectors.

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