2023 edition of Ashes series is turning out to be a cliff hanger. The English on Sunday pulled one game back as they won the Leeds test by 3 wickets. The score line for the series now reads 2-1 with the teams going to Manchester for the 4th test. The entire series now has come to life after the Jonny Bairstow controversy over dismissal during the Lords trest last week. Former Indian legendary batter turned commentator, Sunil Gavaskar has slammed the English commentary team for their unbashed show of support.
Sunil Gavaskar calls out the English media –
Former Indian legendary opener, Sunil Gavaskar has been writing for the Mid-Day tabloid for a long time. He has been known to make insightful and have deep observations about the game. The 73 year old recently called out the English media when he wrote “It’s only natural that the crowds will support their own team and won’t cheer the opponents, but to suggest that it happens only in India is ridiculous. This is not an Indian phenomena, but happens in every country where home crowds keep silent when a boundary is hit against their bowlers or their batters get out.”
Gavaskar calls out the duplicity of English commentators –
The English commentary team has been time and again called out for the way it has functioned during the Ashes series. Many English commentators have noted in the past how the Indian fans get quiet when visiting batters hit a boundary or get to a landmark.
Reacting to this, Mr. Gavaskar replied “Nowhere has it been more apparent than at the current Ashes series. What bugs is the condescending way, overseas commentators, when they come to India, keep saying how quiet the Indian crowd at the ground is when an Indian batter gets out or when an Indian bowler is hit for a boundary. Love how the English convince themselves they are in a good position because of an epic and historic innings played 4 years ago.”
Indian great praises Ben Stokes for his knock –
Sunil Gavaskar was in full praise for the innings played by Ben Stokes during the Lords test match. The innings of 155 by Stokes nearly got England an impressive win against all odds. Australia though held on to their nerves to win the game by 43 runs.
Writing about this, Mr. Gavaskar opined “Typically, while the cricketing world is busy discussing the rights and wrongs of the Jonny Bairstow stumping in the second Test match at Lord’s, the really important cricketing aspect of Ben Stokes’s marvelous innings has receded into the background. It’s a great example of how little things so often overshadow the more important happenings. This has been the usual diversionary tactic used by the overseas media for years where a small insignificant incident is made to cover up for a bigger failure of the team.”