Shastri urges life ban if repeat of 2013 incident with Chahal

MUMBAI : Former India coach Ravi Shastri said a life ban would be appropriate for behaviour like that of a Mumbai Indians player who allegedly dangled teammate Yuzvendra Chahal from a 15th floor hotel balcony during the 2013 Indian Premier League.

India leg-spinner Chahal, who now plays for Rajasthan Royals in the world's richest annual Twenty20 tournament, said in a video published on Thursday that he fainted after the physical harassment by his unnamed, "drunk" teammate.

Former India all-rounder Shastri, who was in charge of the men's national team from mid-2017 until last year's T20 World Cup, said the incident was "not acceptable".

"Someone's life at risk. People might think it is funny but for me it's not funny at all," Shastri told the ESPNcricinfo website on Friday. "It shows the person who is trying to do it is in a state ... which is not appropriate.

"If it happens today, life ban for that person involved ... send him to a rehab centre as quickly as possible. Let him not come near a cricket field again."

The IPL and the Mumbai Indians franchise did not respond to requests for comment.

Former India opening batter Virender Sehwag asked Chahal to reveal the name of the player, saying in a tweet that it was "important to know what happened and what action was taken considering the seriousness of this".

The 31-year-old Chahal, who has represented India in 115 white-ball matches, was bought by the Rajasthan team ahead of this year's IPL. He was with Mumbai for three seasons from 2011 before joining the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2014.

Speaking to fellow spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in a Rajasthan Royals video, Chahal spoke about the 2013 incident.

"We had a match in Bengaluru and there was a get-together after that," he