File photo of Sunil Gavaskar© X (Twitter)
Legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar has said the business of bashing India has to be countered with aggression, citing the recent comments made on the possibility of Joe Root surpassing Sachin Tendulkar as the leading run-getter in men's Test cricket. In an episode of the Club Prairie Fire podcast, former England captain Michael Vaughan had said it's just a matter of time when Root becomes leading run-getter in Tests. At the same time, he added the BCCI will do everything possible in its power to ensure that the record stays with an Indian batter.
"I can say with experience of more than 50 years that it's not just the Indian crowds who are silent when their team is not doing well but crowds in every country. If there is some noise when, say, India is doing well overseas, it's because of the number of Indian supporters who travel long distances from India and who cheer for them and not the locals."
"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.
"Recently, I heard someone saying it would be good for Test cricket if Joe Root overtook Sachin Tendulkar's record for most runs and centuries in Test match cricket. Please tell us what's wrong with Test cricket presently when Tendulkar is owning the record and how will Test cricket be better if (and that's a huge if) an Englishman goes on to hold it. In what way will it be better? Kindly enlighten us,” wrote Gavaskar in his column for Sportstar on Thursday.
He also expressed surprise over the fact that BCCI does not like Test cricket despite India playing lots of red-ball cricket in a year. “For some strange reason, there's a perception overseas that BCCI does not like Test cricket.
“That's a ridiculous notion, as India play more than half a dozen Test matches every season, be it at home or away. Just because the IPL is massively successful doesn't mean BCCI is not interested in promoting Test cricket, but that's the narrative that's being peddled by the overseas media."
Gavaskar signed off by saying one should wait and watch on whether the 2025 World Test Championship venue final will be shifted from Lord's or not. "The ICC just announced that the WTC final will be played at Lord's next June. Well, we have heard the same declaration twice earlier, but as soon as it's seen that England is not going to qualify for the final, the venue gets changed to Southampton or The Oval in London.
"Now that England is winning more Test matches in this period and there's a good chance that they may get to the final, we are being told the final will be at Lord's. Let's wait and see. As the old Indian saying goes, DILLI (Lord's) abhi bhi door hai."