“Excuses ready for the defeats,” Sunil Gavaskar harshly criticizes Australian media and ex-players for their “hue and cry” about Indian pitches
Not just the Australian media, the 73-year-old went on to criticize the Australian team also. He pointed out that the real issue amongst the Aussies is that are used to playing on flat pitches and the moment the ball turns, their batters get exposed.
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Sunil Gavaskar
Even before the first ball was delivered, pitch talks and opinions became the talking point of the town. Fans delved in so the Australian media and ex-players. Even the players claimed that they are not playing tour games due to India’s not preparing Test-type pitches. The pitch talks continued alongside the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, and after its conclusion, India great Sunil Gavaskar did not mince his words in his recent column while blaming Australian media and ex-players.
In his column for the Sportstar, Gavaskar first talked about the Australian teams and their media’s “hue and cry” over Indian pitches; about articles written about hotels, travel, food, and pitches. “It’s making excuses ready for the defeats to follow.“
Gavaskar then recalled the time when Australia won the Nagpur Test way back in 2004 due to a grassy pitch, which cost India as they ended up losing the series. The next match, which was played on Wankhede turner did not go in the visitors’ favor. Gavaskar said how after Australia’s win in Nagpur back in 2004, the Aussie media did not say a word about how well the curators have prepared the pitches which suited their team well. But when Aussies were thrashed at the Wankhede, “there was huge hullabaloo created about the pitch.“
Not just the Australian media, the 73-year-old went on to criticize the Australian team also. He pointed out that the real issue amongst the Aussies is that are used to playing on flat pitches and the moment the ball turns, their batters get exposed. He stated that apart from a few Aussie players, no one simply knows the technique and skill to adjust as per the requirements of a non-flat pitch.
Sunil Gavaskar directly lambasts Mark Taylor
After the third Test in Indore, where India lost by nine wickets, the International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee slapped three demerit points to the pitch. Sunil Gavaskar was vocal about how it was a “harsh” decision by the referee. He reminded cricket’s apex body about the Gabba pitch in Brisbane where Australia took on South Africa and ended up winning the game in just two days.
Gavaskar called the pitch highly dangerous because of the excessive bounce it provided. After Gavaskar’s comments came former Australia player Mark Taylor‘s. Taylor indirectly called out Gavaskar’s opinion on the Gabba pitch, calling it an error from the groundsmen. He feels that the pitch didn’t help either side, which contrasted to that of the Indore pitch which was “poorly prepared it was actually made the game a bit more of a lottery which didn’t favor India at all“.
Gavaskar did not like the way Taylor put it. In the same column, he first quoted Mark Taylor’s exact words and his skullduggery comment and later said how when countries like England and Australia do something wrong, then it’s human error and if a country like India ended up doing something wrong inadvertently, then it’s “cheating“.
The 1983 World Cup-winning player reminded Taylor that even Australia had three spinners like India for the Indore Test, and even had the likes of Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, and Travis Head who can also bowl spin. “Excuse me, how many spinners did Australia have in Indore?“
“You might not win a series in India but at least don’t make enemies with stupid, condescending attitudes and comments,” Gavaskar concluded after rubbishing Aussie media which is only “interested in headlines and sales” and he is expecting the ex-players to think before talking, reminding them what the Indian cricket is doing to Australia with coaching and support contracts.
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