India vs Australia 2017: Sunil Gavaskar hits back at Australian media
What’s the story?
Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar took a dig at Australian paparazzi, saying they should not be paid much attention as the media is usually an extension of the team support staff.
“We should not bother too much about the Australian media and what they write as they are an extension of their cricket team’s support staff. The focus now should shift to cricket from off-the-field issues,” Gavaskar told NDTV on the eve of the third Test.
He also felt that it is about time the DRS controversy is buried and cricket is given the utmost focus.
“Neither India captain Virat Kohli nor his Australian counterpart Steve Smith have said anything about the issue in between the second and the third Tests. Nobody spoke anything in between about it but the media, otherwise there was nothing between them [Kohli and Smith]. It is time look at cricket now. A lot of good cricket that was played in the first two Tests has been swept away because of this one incident.”
In case you didn’t know...
Ever since Virat Kohli alleged that his Australian counterpart attempted to seek help from the dressing room to make a DRS call, the Australian media, in reply, has mocked the Indian team and Kohli in particular.
From terming the Indian skipper as ‘cricket’s ultimate bully’ to accusing India of ‘pitch doctoring’, the unethical jokes and false accusations continue to come from Down Under.
The heart of the matter
Along with requesting the players and staff to ignore the Australian media, Gavaskar asserted that the banter on the field should be more with the game and less with the mouth.
Also read: India vs Australia 2017: Virat Kohli wants the focus back on cricket ahead of the Ranchi Test
He also feels that the International Cricket Council should take a firm stand to reduce on-field chatter between players, which causes misunderstandings. In the second Test at Bangalore, India’s pace spearhead, Ishant Sharma mocked Smith by making faces at him, which left captain Kohli in splits. Gavaskar, though, quipped that this should not happen again.
What’s next?
After the entire hullabaloo about the DRS saga, India and Australia will resume their on-field rivalry when they meet at Ranchi’s Jharkhand Cricket Association Stadium tomorrow for the crucial third Test.
Author’s Take
Both the boards took the right decision to focus on the next game, which has all the makings of an epic encounter. The media will always take sides while reporting such news and the onus is on the teams to brush aside all controversies and focus on the task at hand.