NEW DELHI: The curious case of what should be done with Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul has got prolonged. The Supreme Court said on Thursday it will hear after a week among other things the appointment of ombudsman to rule on the duo, after PS Narsimha takes over as new amicus curiae.

While a week isn’t long in the BCCI case considering that a hearing on the CoA’s crucial 10th status report is pending since October, it stretches the Pandya-Rahul case further and puts a question mark over their participation in the five-match ODI series against Australia starting on February 24, which is India’s last set of matches in this format before the World Cup. Effectively, the two have already been suspended for eight ODIs (three in Australia, five in New Zealand) and three T20Is (in New Zealand).

The CoA has set in motion an inquiry against the duo for making inappropriate comments on women on a TV show and BCCI CEO Rahul Johri has spoken to them as part of this process. They have even tendered unconditional apologies in reply to show-cause notices slapped on them. But instead of the CoA taking a decision, the matter will now have to wait for the appointment of ombudsman and the due course the rest of the process takes. As long as the ombudsman doesn’t take a call, Pandya and Rahul stay suspended.

In a way, this is what the CoA and BCCI members wanted. Initially in favour of an in-house inquiry and appointment of an ad hoc ombudsman, CoA chief Vinod Rai changed his mind after Diana Edulji objected, arguing that this is in violation of the new BCCI constitution. The BCCI members too pressurised the CoA against going the ad hoc way, threatening that they would move court for violation of orders. Rai relented, Edulji and BCCI members had their way. The fate of the two players plunged further into uncertainty.

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Notable in this issue has been the BCCI members’ insistence that the very book they refused to accept be followed. Many associations who objected to an ad hoc ombudsman have been listed partial or non-compliant with the new constitution in the CoA’s 10th status report. Yet here they were, championing the same constitution and eventually with the help of Edulji’s stand forced Rai to succumb.

Not unsurprisingly, some of the BCCI members are chuckling again, celebrating the news that CoA can’t take a step ahead until further court orders. Not one has expressed concern that what happens to the two players who are already in the process of serving an 11-match suspension. In doing so, they have proven once again and that when it comes to ego battles, they are prepared to let the future of cricketers or a World Cup take the back seat.