IND vs ENG: England Media Knows Only How To Moan- Sunil Gavaskar's Mind Games Begin

Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has criticized the evaluation of pitches, particularly comparing Indian-rank turners to overseas wickets. Sunil Gavaskar highlighted that when Indian curators create challenging pitches for Tests, it is often labeled as “chicanery”.

The pitch used in the second Test between India and South Africa in Cape Town is poised to face sanctions from the International Cricket Council (ICC). According to a report on Cricbuzz, match referee Chris Broad assigned a poor rating to the Newlands’ pitch.

India claimed a seven-wicket triumph over South Africa in the recent Test, which was the shortest Test match in history. The Proteas were bundled out for just 55 runs in the first innings. The match concluded in the second session on Day 2, lasting a total of 642 balls.

Subcontinent pitches have faced criticism during the 2023 ODI World Cup and the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the Indian team faced accusations of ‘pitch doctoring’ related to a dry patch on the Nagpur pitch in the series opener.

Their Groundsmen Just Get It Wrong – Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar highlighted that SENA countries attribute pitch conditions to curatorial errors, contrasting it with the harsh judgments Indian pitches receive. Gavaskar emphasized the necessity for a more objective and fair evaluation of playing conditions.

“These kind of excuses that the curator got it wrong is typical of the SENA countries. When our curators make a dry pitch then it’s ‘chicanery’, as a former Australian skipper said last year after the Aussies had been walloped in the first two Test matches,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-day.

“So our groundsmen do it deliberately, but their groundsmen just get it wrong. It’s like before the third country umpires came in, where decisions by their umpires were excused as ‘human error’ while our umpires were cheats and ‘Delhi Butchers’ and all such derogatory headlines,” he added.

Allegations Will Fly Thick And Fast – Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar anticipated that any unfavorable conditions for the visiting team, England, in the upcoming Test series would lead to criticism and allegations from the English media.

“In about three weeks’ time another Test series starts with a country that has the biggest whingeing and moaning media in sport. Anything that doesn’t suit their team will be criticized and allegations will fly thick and fast,” Gavaskar concluded

The Rohit Sharma-led team is set to kick off its home series in the current WTC cycle against England, with a five-match Test series starting on January 25 in Hyderabad. The remaining matches in the series are scheduled in Vizag, Rajkot, Ranchi, and Dharamsala.

England are the last team to secure a Test series victory in India, defeating India under the captaincy of Alastair Cook in 2022. The Ben Stokes-led team drew their recent Test series against Australia at home, concluding the five-match series in a 2-2

Also read: IND vs SA: “That’s A Tough One Because…” Sunil Gavaskar On India’s Top Performer Of 2023