The feud between cricket batting legends Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border was a display of pent-up anger dating back to the Bedi vs Bob Simpson series in 1979, which India nearly won despite unfavorable (read highly biased) refereeing by the Australians. :
1. Gavaskar – Quoting the David Hookes incident:
This is perhaps the only incorrect reference/comment in the entire episode.
David Hookes or anyone else, the quote was out of context and Gavaskar lost track of his argument from here, allowing the Australians to defend themselves. Thumbs down.
2. Ponting defends sledding by referring to it as a cultural difference:
Of course there are cultural differences and India and the West Indies are at one end of the cultural spectrum and Australia and England at the other end (England has recently moved to the middle of the spectrum). This end of the spectrum is red (blood), and they sure play hard and would go to any style to win, in fact. winning is everything. Remember how Bob Simpson never delivered in the 1977-78 series directed by Bishan Singh Bedi where the The Australians were unable to deal with the Indian Spinners, so only their partisan arbitration saved the day. I don’t know how many remember Clandestine delivery of Trevor Chappell? New Zealanders surely do, and they will never forget it. Or, more recently, Ponting sledding minnow nations; well he should go to the soccer world cup and take a position there first. Similarly, England turned to Bodyline, Vaseline (John Lever in India) and even by racial means that they later abandoned (discrimination in MCC, etc). At the West Indian and Indian end of the cultural spectrum (which is white as in peace) we have always known that the game must be played fairly and even manipulating the psychology of the opponent is not fair. Now this is another matter if manipulating psychology is fair or not, but it is part of the tactics of the game. Thumbs down.
3. Ponting – on the Gavaskar Chauhan strike:
Well, that incident is a blot on Gavaskar’s impeccable career (besides Kapil Dev’s crash in Calcutta). Still, let’s get it, they didn’t resort to sledding and his decision hurt none other than his own team and Chauhan in particular (he lost what, in hindsight, was probably his last chance at a 100 score). . It’s still much better than the Aussies’ tricks to keep Murali away through various unfair means.. It is a well known fact that only the actions of cricketers from the subcontinent have been found to be wrong. Ricky Ponting, what do you say to that? Thumbs down.
4. Ponting – on Adam Gilchrist getting out without being handed over:Considering Ricky Ponting didn’t take it lightly, and didn’t like Adam Gilchrist’s walk, it says a lot about how Australians play cricket, which is to say, not in the best of sportsmanship. Thumbs down. The bottom line is that some teams want fair results and others just want to win. And recently, since they’ve been winning, they haven’t been found to be champions, they’re just winners. The West Indies were champions. Champions are winners whatever the results. thumbs up.
5. Frontier – On how Gavaskar played his cricket:
Well, Gavaskar surely played it better than Border, who went on and on until he was able to cross Gavaskar in the number of runs he scored, and on what average? If Border wants to refer to Gavaskar’s ODI run, well, it’s about India taking time to adjust to the new style of playing cricket and Gavaskar’s 36 world cup runs, was the bottom line. From then on, Gavaskar settled in well and put in a host of good performances. Finally, it is a fact that India and the West Indies took the cup long before Australia could stand up and be counted. Even Sri Lanka took it before them. Thumbs down.
6. Border – Quoting the David Hookes incident:
This is perhaps the only incorrect reference/comment in the entire episode.
David Hookes or anyone else, the quote was out of context and Gavaskar lost track of his argument from here, allowing the Australians to defend themselves. Thumbs down.
7. Darren Lehmann – joining the controversy:
darren who? Well, what is Darren’s need now to get into the controversy? Thumbs down.
