"The upset selector said that the player had become too arrogant"- Sunil Gavaskar on controversial incident as captain amidst Warner-Johnson saga
Former legendary Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar believes that the saga involving former Australian speedster Mitchell Johnson questioning David Warner's Test spot was down to bad blood between them.
Gavaskar wasn't surprised when Johnson opened up about an offensive text that he had received from Warner. This came after the former pacer questioned the southpaw's wife Candice for defending her husband in public.
In his column for The Hindu, Sunil Gavaskar explained how these rifts between former teammates could have a scathing effect on the career of the one still playing.
He narrated a story on when he was the Indian captain. One such spat between two former Indian teammates caused the active player to be dropped when the other became a selector. He wrote:
"The selector concerned was livid because, as he said in the meeting, this player had ignored him when, a few days earlier, their cars going in opposite directions were at a traffic light.
"Try as he did to attract the player’s attention by unrolling his car window, the player did not look his way, and so the upset selector said that the player had become too arrogant and needed to be taught a lesson."
Sunil Gavaskar further added:
"The player’s bad shot became a very convenient reason to drop him, though all members of the selection committee, including me, were collectively responsible for the final decision.
"The selector had been appointed to the panel within two years of his retirement, and he had shown even before this meeting that he was going to get even with all those with whom he had perceived a problem, even though there was none intended."
Sunil Gavaskar hailed BCCI for cooling-off period rule
Sunil Gavaskar believes the BCCI have been spot on in implementing the 'cooling-off' period rule for retired cricketers to come into management as coaches or selectors. He feels that in that time period, there is a chance that the rift between the teammates will subside and not affect anyone involved.
On this, Gavaskar wrote:
"The BCCI has got it right with a five-year cooling-off period after retirement before appointing the retired player as a selector and coach, and that’s how it should be. Hopefully, by then, any lingering ill feelings will have been tempered by the passage of time.
"Something similar should be done before a coach of a state or an IPL team is appointed a selector because you don’t want any player suffering from bias by the state or IPL coach."
Only time will tell whether the Warner-Johnson saga will rumble on, or whether the duo will make peace eventually.