That Was Something Avoidable: Sunil Gavaskar On DRS Controversy

Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said that the Indian team could have avoided the controversy in the Cape Town Test against South Africa.

Riding on a scintillating hundred by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant on a tough pitch, India set the hosts for a target of 212.

Mohammed Shami got rid of South African opener Aiden Markram at the early stage of the innings. But skipper Dean Elgar and Keegan Petersen built a determining partnership to set the tone for their chase.

The Controversial DRS and Indian team’s reaction

The duo kept ticking the scoreboard at the same time they were successful in keeping the Indian bowlers at the bay. In the 21st over, Ashwin drifted the ball to strike Elgar before the stumps and the South Africa skipper was adjudged out.

After having a chat with his batting partner, Elgar decided to refer the decision to the TV umpire and fortunately it ruled in his favour as the DRS replay showed the ball had bounced over the stumps.

The Indian team was left livid with the DRS call as they firmly believed that Elgar was trapped before the wicket. Just after the decision, senior Indian players like skipper Virat Kohli and Ashwin vented out their frustration while speaking to the stumps.

Their comments were caught on the stump mic and it clearly indicated that the players were accusing the official broadcasters of robbing them of the important wicket of Dean Elgar.

Tempers are lost in a sporting arena: Sunil Gavaskar

Many cricket experts like Aakash Chopra and Gautam Gambhir condemned the behaviour of the Indian team. Gavaskar, who is part of SuperSport’s commentary panel for India’s tour of South Africa, said that Indians wouldn’t be happy with overseas players doing the same thing.

“When you are playing for your country… when you are trying your best to win, every single moment that you are out there, you can lose your composure and cool. If you say something while you are walking, it’s a different matter, but when you go towards a stump mic – you know it is going to pick up stuff – then it doesn’t look good so that was something that was avoidable,” Gavaskar said on Sports Today.

“Tempers are lost in a sporting arena. You see any sports – whether it is football, cricket or any other sport – tempers are lost. I don’t think they were trying to insinuate something. But if you look at it, how would we Indians feel if an overseas team captain did this – went to the stump mic and said something to the television channel covering the series. We wouldn’t accept it,” added Gavaskar.

South Africa successfully chased the target as their middle-order batters displayed courage and determination to win the game by seven wickets and also won the series 2-1.

Also Read: IND vs SA: Not Convinced That DRS Is 100 Percent Accurate – Former Cricketer Boeta Dippenaar