File photo of Sunil Gavaskar© X (Twitter)
Legendary Indian cricket team captain Sunil Gavaskar unleashed a fiery rant on the English media for constantly criticising the Indian pitches ahead of a Test series. While doing commentary on Day 1 of the second Test match between India and Bangladesh in Kanpur, Gavaskar used the example of Ravichandran Ashwin and labelled a section of the English media 'moaners' and 'crybabies'. Gavaskar cited Ashwin's gritty century against Bangladesh in the first Test and said that although the English media had declared the Chepauk pitch unplayable, Ashwin showed that he could play quite well on the surface.
"He (Ashwin) actually said in the press conference that you can get a hundred if you apply yourself. So he walked the talk when the moaners were going on saying 'you can't bat here'. Saying and doing all the things like crybabies, typical English media stuff, where they only talk about Indian pitches," he said.
Coming to the match, pacer Akash Deep was impressive in a probing opening spell while Ravichandran Ashwin removed the dangerous Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto before rain halted India's progress in the second Test on the opening day.
Given the forecast, it was expected to be a weather-hit contest from the beginning. Only 35 overs could be bowled after Rohit Sharma invited Bangladesh to bat in overcast conditions as visitors struggled to 107 for three after a brief resistance through Shanto (31).
Mominul Haque (40 batting) and veteran Mushfiqur Rahim (6) were at the crease when heavens opened up.
Overnight rain had delayed the start of the match by an hour. Heavy overcast conditions influenced India's team selection as the hosts kept all three pacers from the Chennai Test, which meant that local boy Kuldeep Yadav missed out on another Test match. Akash (2/14 in 10 overs), who bowled round the wicket to the left-handers, consistently hit the good length areas and got the ball to either shape away or come in with the angle.
Shanto (57 balls, 4x6), though, batted with positive intent, if not combative, to ensure Bangladesh don't lose way from the start.
(With PTI inputs)