Tag: Sunil Gavaskar

Former India legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar has slammed the Pakistan team following their disappointing performance and early ouster from the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

During a recent interview, Gavaskar highlighted Pakistan’s bench strength and stated that even a second-string Indian team will defeat Pakistan.

“I think a B team from India can certainly give Pakistan a tough fight. A C team, I’m not too sure, but a B team will be very, very hard to beat for Pakistan in their current form.”

“Pakistan has talented players, but they haven’t been able to build a strong backup. It’s surprising that they have struggled to produce batters like Inzamam-ul-Haq,” said Gavaskar.

He further compared the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Pakistan Super League and lamented the absence of top-quality players.

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“The Pakistan Super League (PSL) is being played domestically, yet it hasn’t yielded enough top-quality batters,” he said.

“How has India produced so many young stars? It’s because of the IPL. Players from there have gone on to play domestic cricket and eventually for India. That is something Pakistan must analyze,” he added.

Sunil Gavaskar further criticized the Pakistan batters’ lack of intent during the game against India.

“Mohammad Rizwan hit the first ball of his innings for a four, and I thought we were in for something different.”

“However, the batters soon started blocking deliveries instead of rotating the strike. The Indian spinners completed their overs quickly, and it was surprising that Pakistan’s batters didn’t show any urgency,” he observed.

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For the unversed, the hosts and defending champions, Pakistan, were eliminated after losing their first two matches against New Zealand and India, respectively.

New Zealand beat the Green Shirts comprehensively in the Champions Trophy opener by 60 runs.

After their defeat against the Black Caps, Pakistan lost against arch-rivals India courtesy of a master class from Virat Kohli, who smashed an unbeaten century, chasing a modest total of 241 runs in Dubai.

READ: Champions Trophy: Australia-South Africa match called off due to rain

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar lashed out at India for a concussion sub-selection of Harshit Rana in the fourth T20 International against England.

Harshit Rana made his T20I debut as a concussion substitute in the fourth T20I replacing batting all-rounder Shivam Dube. Dube was hit on his helmet in the last over of the side’s innings, forcing India to bring in a concussion sub.

Rana was instrumental in clinching a series victory for his team after taking 3-33 in his four overs.

After his heroics in the match, English captain Jos Butler and several former cricketers including Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook slammed the match referee’s decision, saying that Harshit Rana was not a like-for-like replacement for Dube.

Indian legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar also shared similar views regarding the controversy row that played a vital role in England’s thrashing in the fourth T20I.

“In the Pune game, Shivam Dube batted right till the end after having got hit on the helmet earlier, so clearly, he was not concussed. So, allowing a concussion substitute itself was not correct,” Gavaskar wrote in a column for an Indian publication.

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According to Sunil Gavaskar, Rana should have been allowed to field and not bowl as Dube had not sustained an injury while batting.

The former India captain further said that it was not justified for India to bring in Harshit Rana as a concussion sub for Dube.

“Even by the most generous stretching of the like-for-like term, there was nothing such between Dube and Rana, said cricketer turned commentator.

“With tongue firmly in cheek, one can say that they are the same height and have the same standard in fielding. Otherwise, there’s nothing like-for-like as far as they are concerned,” Gavaskar concluded.

For the unversed, India gave England a hammering in the fifth T20I and clinched the five-match series 4-1 at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.

READ: Champions Trophy 2025: Jasprit Bumrah set to undergo scans amid injury scare

Indian ODI and Test skipper Rohit Sharma has allegedly filed a complaint with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) against legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar.

The report claimed that Rohit felt that Gavaskar was ”too harsh” regarding his dismal show against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The complaint follows recent critical remarks made by Gavaskar regarding Indian batting stalwart performance during the Test series between India and Australia.

In a series where Indian and Australian batting struggled most of the time, Rohit Sharma scored just 31 runs in 3 Test matches. He even decided to drop himself for the final match in Sydney.

Sunil Gavaskar, in his column for the Sydney Morning Herald, Gavaskar criticised Sharma for his batting and captaincy.

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“If he (Rohit) doesn’t score runs in Melbourne and Sydney, he won’t wait for the selectors to make that call, he should step down from captaincy,” he wrote.

Reportedly, Rohit has allegedly expressed his ‘distress’ regarding the external pressure over his performance. This harsh evaluation, according to sources close to Rohit, was seen as unnecessary external pressure that could undermine the captain’s confidence.

“Rohit felt that it wasn’t necessary for Gavaskar to criticize him in such a manner. The captain has been under pressure for some time, and this external criticism, especially from someone as respected as Gavaskar, only adds to the burden,” a source revealed.

It’s worth noting that, the right-handed batter has been “completely out of sorts” in Test cricket, scoring just 164 runs in his last 15 Test innings at a meagre average of 10.93.

READ: Steve Smith achieves major milestone during first Test against Sri Lanka 

Legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar has raised questions over the true intentions of Mumbai batters including Rohit Sharma after their defeat in the Ranji Trophy game.

The team’s game in the second half of the domestic tournament saw several top Indian players return to grassroots in a bid to regain form and abide by the new BCCI rules which made playing domestic cricket mandatory for all players.

However, Indian captain Rohit Sharma continued his dry run with the bat as he only managed to score three and 11 in the side’s two innings during their Ranji Trophy game.

Following the Mumbai batters’ poor outing in the game, former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has raised questions about their intentions to play the game.

In a column in an Indian publication, Gavaskar slammed the Mumbai batters’ approach to attempt big shots in a pitch that had movement.

“The dismissal of Mumbai’s Test batters once again brought to the fore the perils of the all-out aggressive mode of batting that is nowadays thought of as being central to run-making,” Gavaskar wrote.

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“It can work on flat pitches, but on pitches where the ball is doing something, there has to be a technique good enough to keep out the good delivery.”

According to Sunil Gavaskar, the aggressive batting approach backfired in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series where Sharma was dismissed several times while going on the offensive.

“There are more chances of a dismissal while looking to play in a manner that one is not used to, as was seen in the recent Sydney Test [between India and Australia] when rushes of blood caused some silly-looking dismissals,” he wrote.

Gavaskar went on to question if Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer only played the Ranji Trophy game to keep their national contracts.

“Whether their hearts were in it or they did that only to ensure they were not stripped of their BCCI contracts, like Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were, after missing out on the Ranji Trophy games last year, is known only to them,” he added.

“Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s participation meant that Ayush Mhatre, who had got a couple of hundreds and some fifties, had to be left out of the Mumbai side.”

READ: Jasprit Bumrah named ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year

Legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar has recently revealed his favorites to win the upcoming ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025, scheduled to be held in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The ninth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy will kick off on 19 February with host and defending champions Pakistan taking on New Zealand in the curtain-raiser in Karachi’s National Bank Stadium.

It’s worth noting that India will play all their matches in Dubai, while the rest of the tournament will be played across Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi in Pakistan.

The final is scheduled in Lahore on 9 March, unless India qualify, in which case it will be played in Dubai.

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Sunil Gavaskar, during an interview, named Pakistan as the favorites, highlighting their home advantage as a major factor.

“The tag of favourites should be given to the home team Pakistan as it’s not easy to beat any team in their home conditions,” Gavaskar said.

The legendary batter cited India’s example of their dominant performance in the home ODI World Cup in 2023, where they remained unbeaten throughout the tournament before losing to Australia in the final.

“India lost in the final of the ODI World Cup 2023 but before that, they put up clinical performances and won ten matches on the trot,” he mentioned.

“Hence, I feel Pakistan are the favourites for the upcoming tournament.”

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Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has criticised India’s star batter Virat Kohli for shoulder-bumping young Australian batter Sam Konstas and for his overall on-field behaviour during the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Kohli made headlines during the tour of Australia, not for his batting prowess, but for his behaviour on the field. He showed glimpses of his on-field aggression during the first three matches of the series, but he completely lost his cool in the fourth Test.

Sam Konstas took the world by storm on his debut as he attacked an in-form Jasprit Bumrah early in his innings on the opening day of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne in front of a sold-out crowd.

Konstas’ charge against India’s best bowler frustrated the fielding team. However, Kohli failed to control his emotions and bumped the batter’s shoulder, leading to an exchange between them.

“What Kohli did with the shoulder bump is simply not cricket,” Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his column in The Sydney Morning Herald. “Indians are not shy to retaliate if provoked, but here the provocation was simply not there.”

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“The one thing that players learn with experience is that it’s futile to try and get back at the crowds, who have come to have a good time, so booing players is never personal but just a way to entertain themselves.”

Throughout the series, the vocal home crowd directed loud boos at Virat Kohli for his behaviour.

The star did not back down either as he provoked the Sydney crowd during the fifth Test by mimicking the infamous sandpaper scandal that had marred Australia’s tour of South Africa in 2018.

“To react to that doesn’t do the player any good, and in fact, does more harm. Kohli must understand that whatever he does to react to the crowd actually puts more pressure on his teammates, who also then become targets of the spectators,” Gavaskar added.

READ: Angelo Mathews raises concern over Sri Lanka’s Test schedule in 2025

Legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar recently compared star batter Virat Kohli with tennis legends Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

Kohli, during the second innings of the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia, etched his name in the history books as he struck his 30th century in the format, going past legendary Sir Don Bradman‘s tally of Test hundreds.

Kohli walked out to bat on the third day carrying the weight of four single-digit scores in his last five innings and a 16-month century drought. He last scored a century during the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 semi-final against New Zealand.

However, he displayed a masterclass in strokeplay, marking his return to form with an unbeaten knock of 100 runs off 143 balls, laced with eight boundaries and two sixes.

His innings propelled India to a commanding position before skipper Jasprit Bumrah declared with a staggering 533-run lead. In response, Australia crumbled to 238 all out in the final session on day four.

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Sunil Gavaskar praised Kohli for his brilliance and compared his recent struggles with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic’s occasional slumps.

“I said in commentary that Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal, they are title winners. But when they lose in the semi-finals of any tournament, people say that they are not in form. If anybody else makes it to the semis, they are praised,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

“Similarly, with Virat Kohli, because everybody is so used to him scoring so many hundreds quite regularly in international cricket. And when he doesn’t score a century, even if he is getting 70-80, which a lot of players will be happy to get, people say he is not scoring runs and is out of form.

“But then again, Indian fans, they’re greedy fans. They’re not going to be happy with their idol scoring only 60-70s. They want their icons, their idols, to score hundreds, and that is the reason there was this little talk about, ‘Oh, he hasn’t got a hundred since July 2023.’ July 2023 is just about a year ago.”

READ: Uncapped wicket-keeper added to England squad for New Zealand Tests

DALLAS: Pakistan’s white-ball captain Babar Azam met India’s legend Sunil Gavaskar here ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

Taking to Instagram, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) shared footage of the interaction between Babar and Gavaskar.

“Babar Azam interacts with cricketing icon Sunil Gavaskar,” wrote PCB.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Pakistan Cricket (@therealpcb)

The Pakistan Men’s cricket team reached Dallas on Friday to participate in the T20 World Cup 2024.

Pakistan have been struggling to get on the winning track ahead of this year’s mega event.

The Green Shirts played three bilateral T20I series in a bid to prepare for the T20 World Cup 2024 but could not produce the desired results.

The former champions played out a 2-2 draw against an inexperienced New Zealand side in a five-match home series before registering a 2-1 away series win over Ireland.

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In their last assignment before the World Cup, Pakistan succumbed to a 2-0 defeat in the four-match away series against England.

But the biggest setback for Pakistan was the shock loss against Ireland in the first T20I.

Pakistan are placed in Group A alongside arch-rivals India, Ireland, Canada and co-host USA.

The Green Shirts will start their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign against the USA on June 6 before taking on arch-rivals India in a blockbuster clash on June 9 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.

The 2009 champions will then take on Canada on June 11 before locking horns with Ireland in their last group-stage fixture on June 16.

Pakistan Squad for T20 World Cup 2024: Babar Azam (c), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan, Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.

READ: Sourav Ganguly warns India of Pakistan threat in T20 World Cup 2024

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has criticized England players’ decision to leave the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) for the T20I series against Pakistan.

He also demanded the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) take action and penalise the players for pulling off from the playoff stages of the IPL.

“I am all for players choosing country before anything else but having assured various franchises about their availability for the full season, if they pull out now, it will be letting down the franchises which probably pay them more money in one IPL season which they don’t earn in a few seasons with their country,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid Day.

“The franchises should not only be allowed to deduct a substantial amount from the fee that the player was bought for but also not give the Board, to which the player belongs, the stated 10 per cent commission of the fee that each player gets.”

England’s Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, and Liam Livingstone are representing Punjab Kings in the IPL, while Will Jacks and Reece Topley are playing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

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Jos Buttler is representing Rajasthan Royals, Phil Salt is playing for Kolkata Knight Riders and Moeen Ali is with Chennai Super Kings.

England announced a 15-member squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 and the four-match T20I series against Pakistan.

They announced that the players who are participating in the IPL will come back to the country to play series against Pakistan.

“Selected players, currently playing in the Indian Premier League, will return in time for the series against Pakistan, which gets underway at Headingley on Wednesday 22 May 2024,” ECB said in the press release.

England squad for Pakistan series and T20 World Cup

Jos Buttler (c), Phil Salt, Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali (vc), Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Tom Hartley, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Reece Topley

READ: Key players dropped as Netherlands announce squad for T20 World Cup