Ex-India cricketer Atul Bedade accused of sexual harassment

NEW DELHI Atul Bedade, the former Indian batsman, has been suspended as the head coach of the Baroda women’s team after players accused him of sexual harassment and public shaming. A source within the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) said that action was taken after players complained about his misbehaviour during the Women’s Senior One Day tournament in Himachal Pradesh in February 2020. According to media reports, the BCA’s apex committee will now form a probe committee that will look into the allegations made against Bedade. The 53-year-old played 13 ODIs for India in 1994 and scored one half century. Bedade told a cricket website that the allegations are a “surprise” to him and “baseless and false.”According to a letter from the BCA, Bedade engaged in unethical behaviour which ranged from “personal comments on physicality” to “behaviour oblivious of gender sensitivity”. The former cricketer, now 53, who took the role in April 2019, stood his ground and denied the allegations. “This has come to me as a surprise,” Bedade said. “This is all baseless and false allegations. I will put my side [forward] soon.” Bedade, a left-handed batsman, played 13 ODIs for India in 1994. He averaged a paltry 22.57 runs over 13 matches.—Agencies