(Image via abplive.in)
Taking a leaf from the book of Indian cricket fans, Frenchman Richard Gasquet who lost to Novak Djokovic on Sunday in the semifinals of Wimbledon 2015, has squarely blamed the outcome on the presence of Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma in the Center Court stands.
“My Indian fans in Pondicherry tell me that she’s a panotti [Ed: panauti] or something. Basically, if she happens to be in the stands, nothing will go your way. No wonder I lost,” said a glum looking Gasquet.
His conqueror, Novak Djokovic, hasn’t completely ruled out the theory. “Richard might have something there,” the Serbian said. “I barely made it through myself. I had to repeatedly call my trainer during the game to place a kala tikka [black mark] on my racquet to protect me from her buri nazar [harmful gaze]. That may well have been the difference.”
Gasquet’s statement, however, hasn’t gone down with beau Virat Kohli. Reportedly, the aggressive Indian cricket captain stormed into the tennis players’ lounge, accosted Gasquet with a string of expletives that included MC, BC and a number of innovative Indo-French unmentionables, and finished with a flourish by flipping the bird.
Meanwhile, Team India, currently in Zimbabwe for an ODI series, has sent out feelers to Anushka Sharma to come over as possible to watch their games. “We just about made it in the first game. There’s no telling what would happen in the rest of the series. We need Anushka here so that our fans can blame her instead of our performance,” said captain Ajinkya Rahane.