India vs England 2021: We Know Their Double Standards - Sunil Gavaskar Slams The Critics Of The Chepauk Pitch

Former India captain, Sunil Gavaskar does not mince words as he lashes out at people, particularly some former cricketers, who have been constantly ridiculing the Chepauk pitch on which India and England battle out the second Test of the ongoing series.

From the first session of Day 1, the ball is turning and the pitch has been fairly dry making batting difficult. Some experts – ex-cricketer and fans – have criticized the pitch for posing challenges to bat even on Day 1; mostly it has been about the turn offered by the surface.

Sunil Gavaskar had enough of his it, as he calls out the ‘double standards’ of ‘one of two’ former Australia cricketers. Gavaskar points out that nobody questions the quickness in the pitch when teams get all out for low totals on seam-friendly pitches, but they point fingers when the track is spin-friendly.

“Some of them are saying that – but you have a seeming pitch in England. Australia get dismissed for 46 – the ball keeps seeming all throughout. No one talks about that. It’s always about Indian pitches, and when the ball starts to turn, people pose a problem,” Sunil Gavaskar said while speaking with Star Sports.

“Australians do moan about that a lot, I admit,” Mark Butcher, sitting alongside the Indian legend, said.

“Yes. One or two who we know who don’t like India, who don’t like England, so they always have a go at India and England, so that’s fine. We ignore them because we know the double standards. But basically, we saw with Rohit Sharma’s innings, if pitch was impossible, nobody would have scored 330,” Gavaskar added.

England spinners are not as good as Ashwin: Sunil Gavaskar

The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-commentator asserts that it was the English spinners who were not as good as India’s R Ashwin, who picked a 5-for in the first innings with good support of debutant Axar Patel.

Sunil Gavaskar points out that Rohit Sharma made a hundred in the first innings and India in their second innings went past England’s first innings total; the former opener opines that the host’s batsmen simply played than the visitor’s.

“There are some who are forever complaining about this, that or the other. Yes, it’s a challenging pitch. Rohit Sharma showed in the first innings. More than that, in the 2nd innings, after England have been bowled out for 134, Rohit showed no discomfort against England spinners.

“You can argue that maybe England spinners are not as good as Ashwin. That they did not bowl the lines and length that Ashwin or Axar did. But you have to also argue that who has got the better technique when it comes to batting and who has the better skills when it comes to bowling. That really should be the debate rather than the pitch,” the 1983 World Cup winner added.

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