Sunil Gavaskar was far from pleased with Nasser Hussain taking a jibe at the old Indian cricket team
Over the last couple of years, as the foreign media outlets have upped the ante against the Indian cricket team, Sunil Gavaskar has grown increasingly irate. Where bemusing, confused commentators like Sanjay Manjrekar and Aakash Chopra have been way too willing to toe the line and act as yes men for the foreigners, Sunil Gavaskar has refused to bow down.
He’s given it back to the English and Australians, a person who has ensured India’s dignity and stature remains intact on the global stage. His commentary during the Australian series was hailed with him time and time again clobbering the tirade peddled out by the Australian commentators and media platforms.
Sunil Gavaskar And Nasser Hussain Bicker Prior To England vs India 3rd Test Match
Gavaskar has once again lashed out, this time at Nasser Hussian for his views on the Indian cricket team’s of the past. Writing an opinion column prior to the ongoing Headingly test match between England and India, Nasser had talked about how he believed this Indian cricket team was an aggressive unit unlike the old sides which visited the country.
He went to the extend of saying the previous sides got bullied as he lauded Virat Kohli’s brand of aggression. The comments were far from taken nicely by Gavaskar though with him directly question Nasser during a pre-match segment on Sony Sports prior to the Leeds 3rd test match
Gavaskar was unsparing and relentless in his attack as he asked Nasser to explain what he meant by the old Indian teams getting bullied, ones Gavaskar was a part of as well.
Gavaskar: You said this India will not be bullied as perhaps the previous generations would be. (Me) Belonging to previous generation, could you perhaps enlighten which generation? And what is the exact meaning of bully?”
Hussain: I just think, the Indian side under the aggression of the past, would have said ‘no no no’. But what Kohli has done is to make them go doubly hard. I saw a little bit of that in Sourav Ganguly’s side and he started that, Virat is continuing with it. Even when Virat was not there, Ajinkya really went hard at the Australians. I just don’t think you want to wake this Indian side up.
Gavaskar: But when you say previous generations were bullied, I don’t think so. I’d be very upset if my generation was being talked about as being bullied. If you have a look at the record, in 1971 we won, that was my first tour in England. 1974, we had internal problems so we lost 3-0. 1979, we lost 1-0, it could have been 1-1 if we chased down 438 at the Oval. 1982 we again lost 1-0. In 1986 we won 2-0, we could have won it 3-0. So, I don’t think my generation we were bullied. I don’t think aggression means you have always got to be at the face of the opposition. You can show passion, you can show your commitment towards your team without yelling after each fall of wicket.
Hussain: I for one, quite like the way Kohli leads this side. That’s what I wanted to say. That team talk in which he said ‘let’s unleash fire on this English side’ and you could see the fire that they unleashed.
Gavaskar: There is no argument in that. The question is saying that the previous generations were bullied. I don’t think this is right.