Sunil Gavaskar is famous for his aggressive comments in cricket. Recently, he came with one of those, and this time, his target was the commentators and pundits from overseas.
Background
The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) is the world’s richest and most influential cricket board. It is even richer than the International Cricket Council (ICC). BCCI is regarded as the most powerful cricket body in the world.
This factor paves the way the way to a lot of criticisms, ranging from fixing the match to altering the match scenarios, including the pitch and the ball. In recent tournaments, especially in the 2023 ODI World Cup, which was held in India, and the recently culminated T20 World Cup 2024, this allegation peaked.
Sunil Gavaskar generally takes these criticisms into his head and bashes against them. He did the same this time when the foreign media outlets and pundits criticised the Indian crowd for going silent when they were witnessing their side losing in the Final of the ODI World Cup 2023 against Australia. According to them, the crowd had to show some support for the visiting team as well.
Gavaskar Bashes Out At Pundits Criticising India
Did Gavaskar take it well? Absolutely not. The former cricketer lashed out at the critics and called them out for hypocrisy. According to him, it was a natural response from the Indian crowd, as ‘nobody likes to see their country or country’s player lose’. Gavaskar also mentioned that it’s the same everywhere. Gavaskar was writing on a column in Sportstar
“This home support business is a natural thing, as nobody likes to see their country or country’s player lose, especially in a sporting contest. Yet this support is invariably held against Indian crowds by overseas media and commentators. They quickly forget that even in their own country it is the same, and their crowds are hardly likely to support the opposition.
Gavaskar also asked to meet these criticisms with aggression, as according to him, ‘that’s the only language they (critics) understand’.
“So next time, when some commentator or media person from overseas tries to talk about the silence of the Indian crowd when India is not doing well, we should ask them why their supporters haven’t come to cheer for their team. This business of India bashing has to be countered with aggression because that’s the only language they understand.
What’s Next for India?
India will host Bangladesh in a two-match Test and a 3-match T20I series. The Red-Ball series will start first on September 19. India has Kiwis test coming after that before they travel to Australia for the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
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