BIPIN DANI
Team India's wicket keeper-batter Rishabh Pant received a bottle of champagne for his heroic performance against England, which won him the Player of the Match award in the 3rd and the final ODI on Sunday.
"We have not seen him taking a drink", says one of his childhood coaches, Devendra Sharma.
Pant did gift this to former India coach Ravi Shastri, whose drinking love is well known.
Pant, however, could have refused to accept the bottle, according to the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) official.
"A bottle of champagne is given to the player of the match and player of the series for all international matches. If someone does not drink, he can refuse to take it. For example, if they abstain from accepting and drinking alcohol", Danny Reuben the Head of Elite Communications - England Men’s Teams, said exclusively.
"A bottle of champagne as part of the MoM/MoS award has been going for decades, and as far as I know it's only ever been done in England - presumably a deal with the sponsors", Michael Jones, a cricket historian tells us.
"I would hope that they show sensitivity towards players' beliefs and have an alternative available if there's a chance that the award might be won by a Muslim (or by someone who doesn't drink for any other reason)".
"They would also have needed an alternative at Old Trafford in 1990, where the award winner was under 18 so anyone handing him a bottle of champagne could have faced criminal charges for supplying alcohol to a minor", Jones further added.
