Bedade suspended as Baroda women’s team coach for ‘sexual harassment, public shaming’

Atul Bedade has been suspended by the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) following complaints that fall under the purview of sexual harassment and public shaming.

Atul Bedade has been suspended by the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) following complaints that fall under the purview of sexual harassment and public shaming.

The hard-hitting batsman, who had played 13 ODIs for India in 1994, had been the coach of the Baroda women’s cricket team for the 2019/20 season.

A suspension letter by the BCA issued on Saturday stated that the complaints against Bedade included making “personal comments on physicality to personal menstruation; comments that discourage the morals of the team members; angry outbursts unbecoming of a women’s team coach and using unparliamentary language that is not accepted of a person-in-charge; behaviour oblivious of gender sensitivity.”

Bedade had been moved to the women’s team from the Baroda men’s team last season. According to reports, the complaints against Bedade were lodged by some members of the Baroda women’s team and their families.

A batsman known for his penchant to hit boundaries, Bedade had worked and played alongside Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli for Sungrace Mafatlal (an apparel brand) in the early 1990s, later moving to umpiring, pitch curation and coaching.