Tag: Michael Atherton

Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar has hit back at Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton after the former England captains raised concerns over India playing all their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 matches in Dubai.

With India refusing to travel to Pakistan due to political tensions, the ICC scheduled all their group-stage games in Dubai, a move that sparked debate over fairness. However, Gavaskar dismissed England’s complaints, calling them excuses for their own failures.

Speaking to Sports Today, the Indian legend criticized the constant whining from former English cricketers, urging them to reflect on their own team’s early exit from the tournament rather than fixating on India.

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“I think these are all wise and experienced people. Why don’t you actually look at why your team has not qualified? That’s what I was going to ask you, sir,” Sunil Gavaskar stated.

“Rather than constantly focusing on India, are you even looking at your own backyard? Your players are in such a fragile mental state, they don’t seem to care about results as long as they meet certain expectations.”

England’s semi-final hopes were dashed after losses to Australia and Afghanistan, prompting Hussain and Atherton to question whether India had an unfair advantage. But Gavaskar was quick to shut down the narrative.

“All the time, they are moaning, ‘India has got this, India has got that.’ It’s constant. We must just ignore it. Let them keep moaning. We have better things to focus on. That is the kind of attitude you must have,” he further stated.

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Sunil Gavaskar also highlighted India’s massive influence in world cricket, both in terms of on-field dominance and financial contributions through media rights and sponsorships.

“They just cannot seem to understand where India stands in international cricket in terms of quality, income, talent, and, more importantly, in terms of generating revenue,” he said.

“India’s contribution to global cricket through television rights and media revenue plays a massive role. They need to understand that their salaries also come from what India brings to the world of cricket.”

READ: Champions Trophy: England registers unwanted ODI record after defeat to South Africa

Former England captain Michael Atherton has raised doubts over the behaviour of the Rawalpindi pitch for the third Test, suggesting that it may not be as spin-friendly as the pitch in Multan.

The Test series between Pakistan and England is currently tied 1-1, with the third match set to be played from 24th to 28th October at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

Pakistan suffered a humiliating defeat by an innings and 47 runs in the series opener in Multan. The home side made an array of changes for the remainder of the series, including dropping their star batter Babar Azam and ace pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Domestic performer Kamran Ghulam made his long-awaited debut during the second Test against England, while spin bowlers Sajid Khan, Noman Ali and Zahid Mahmood made their return to the Test side.

The home team also instructed groundsmen to make a spin-friendly pitch, which along with team changes as spinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali shared 20 wickets to steer Pakistan to their first Test victory at home since February 2021.

The groundsmen in Rawalpindi are also working to create a similar pitch, however, Atherton highlighted that this pitch is traditionally pace-friendly and would not behave like Multan’s.

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“I believe it will be a very good pitch for the first couple of days. Clearly, they are trying to bake it to encourage spin; that much is obvious,” said Atherton during a conversation on Sky Sports.

“However, Pindi has a reputation for being one of the flattest pitches around. This pitch is not used, so they cannot replicate the conditions we saw in Multan, where the game effectively started on the sixth day.”

“While I expect the pitch to start spinning at some point, I think it will be quite good for batting during the first half of the match. This could signal a return to the more traditional style of cricket here, where the game progresses normally for two or three days before the conditions begin to change.”

It’s worth noting that Pakistan have announced an unchanged Playing XI, while England have added an additional spinner to take advantage of the conditions.

Pakistan Playing XI: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel (vc), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Zahid Mahmood.

England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Rehan Ahmed, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.

READ: Pakistan name unchanged Playing XI for third Test against England

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has released its 38th podcast, which features three cricket legends – Pakistan’s Wasim Akram, England’s Michael Atherton, and Australia’s Allan Border – discussing Australia’s first tour to Pakistan in 24 years.

Border, who represented Australia in 156 Tests and also visited Pakistan and inspired his side to their first world cup in 1987, said it is an opportunity for the boys to make a name for themselves.

“This is the opportunity for the boys to really make a name for themselves. From Australia’s point of view, they have not had a lot of success in the subcontinent. It would be great from their point of view that someone stands up and say, you know, we can beat Pakistan in Pakistan, something a lot of really good sides have been unable to do,” he said.

“Conversely, for Pakistan, emerging as a young team and playing against Australia at home for the first time in 24 years, there’s the opportunity to really make names for themselves,” he added.

Border also claimed that it is going to be a really good series because both sides ‘have a lot to play for’, also hopeful of huge crowds to turn-up.

Atherton, on the other hand, who scored 7,728 runs for England in his 115 Tests, said it is important for Pakistan cricket fans that the international cricket is returning home, while also hoping the five-day cricket to flourish since ‘a relatively small number of countries’ play the longest format of the game.

“It’s great that Pakistan cricket supporters can see international cricket being played at home in Pakistan,” he said.

“Relatively a small number of countries play Test cricket and you don’t want to see Test cricket under pressure, particularly from the various franchise leagues around the globe. You don’t just want to see three or four nations constantly playing against each other. So, if there are going to be 12 Test-playing countries, you want all 12 to be flourishing and hopefully, the game also growing its footprints,” he added.

Atherton also claimed that it will be challenging for both batting line-ups since they will be facing good bowling attacks.

Furthermore, Wasim termed Australia’s historic tour to Pakistan as an achievement for the PCB and also claimed that the Pakistan Super League (PSL) played an important role in the revival of international cricket in the country.

“Australia coming to Pakistan after 24 years is an achievement for the Pakistan Cricket Board. This series will have a huge impact on our cricket as it will improve our players’ approach and mindset. For the next generation of cricketers, this will be an opportunity to fall in love with this sport and get motivated to scale greater heights in their careers,” he said.

“Australia’s tour to Pakistan will send out a strong and powerful message that everything is fine and normal here. This is our third PSL in Pakistan and I keep telling foreign players that this security has been put in place because we are too cautious and do not want to risk anything. The foreign players understand this argument and are happy to continue to visit and play here,” he added.

Wasim further claimed that things have changed a lot since 1998; when Australia last toured Pakistan and also expressed hope that the quality of pitches will be much better for the scheduled series.

READ: Pakistan’s Women’s World Cup squad to leave for New Zealand tonight