Former India batsman Atul Bedade has been suspended as coach of the Baroda Women’s team after widespread allegations, including sexual harassment.
According to reports, some of the Baroda players complained about his behaviour after a tournament in Himachal Pradesh last month, leading to the Baroda Cricket Association suspending Bedade.
“Yes, he is being suspended with immediate effect pending inquiry by probe committee having one neutral member from outside BCA,” Ajit Lele, the BCA secretary, told Press Trust of India.
#AtulBedade is a former India batsman. Firm action by an affiliate of @BCCI , which still has some Qs to answer re a particular employee. pic.twitter.com/yy4asyMxYD
— Lokendra Pratap Sahi (@lpsahi) March 21, 2020
The BCA, in their letter to Bedade, notified him that he had been suspended under their “policy of sexual harassment and public shaming” and, that accusations were of the nature of: “personal comments on physicality”, “comments that discourage the morale of team members”, “angry outbursts unbecoming of a women’s team coach and using unparliamentary language that is not accepted of a person in-charge”, and “behaviour oblivious of gender sensitivity”.
Bedade was appointed as coach of Baroda’s women’s team in April 2019. He played 13 ODIs for India in 1994, but was largely a domestic presence in his career that spanned 14 years.
