Sunil Gavaskar and Nasser Hussain had a heated argument on the pre-show ahead of the Headingley Test regarding one of Hussain’s opinion pieces as he described the current Indian team as “one that can’t be bullied”.
The heated scenes between the players from both India and England at Lord’s are still fresh in the minds of many. The third Test at Headingley got off to such a start that the series became even spicier. The two former captains of the respective teams – now turned commentators – Sunil Gavaskar and Nasser Hussain indulged in a feisty war of words on the pre-show of the Test.
It was all about an opinion piece that Hussain wrote in his column in The Daily Mail, where he described the current Indian team as the one that can’t be bullied like previous generations.
Gavaskar took offence to it and decided to confront the former England captain on air, asking him to elaborate on which past generation was he referring to and what does bullying exactly mean.
“You said this India will not be bullied as perhaps the previous generations would be. (I) Belonging to previous generation, could you perhaps enlighten which generation? And what is the exact meaning of bully?”
Gavaskar asked.
In his calm manner, Hussain tried to explain that he admires the fighting spirit the Indian side possesses under Virat Kohli’s leadership. How even in his absence, the Indian team went hard at the Aussies and how trying to pick a fight with this Indian side is not a good idea.
“I just think, the Indian side under the aggression of the past, would have said ‘no no no’. But what Kohli has done is to make them go doubly hard. I saw a little bit of that in Sourav Ganguly’s side and he started that, Virat is continuing with it.
Even when Virat was not there, Ajinkya really went hard at the Australians. I just don’t think you want to wake this Indian side up,”
Hussain replied
Gavaskar continued his outburst of emotions, letting Nasser know his displeasure regarding the remarks. The former Indian captain went on to list down the achievements of the team he was part of and stated that you don’t have to have ‘in your face’ attitude to show aggression.
“But when you say previous generations were bullied, I don’t think so. I’d be very upset if my generation was being talked about as being bullied. I don’t think aggression means you have always got to be at the face of the opposition. You can show passion without yelling after each fall of wicket,”
Gavaskar said.
Hussain, rated as one of the best England captains, tried his best to dodge the question by mentioning he admires the way Kohli leads the side:
“I for one, quite like the way Kohli leads this side. That’s what I wanted to say.
That team talk in which he said ‘let’s unleash fire on this English side’ and you could see the fire that they unleashed,”
Gavaskar then went on to bash England, saying how they “moan moan moan” about the pitches served to them overseas. The 10 minutes of awkward television moment ended when Harsha Bhogle interrupted to inform that Hussain will have to leave for the toss.
Things didn’t go well for India after Gavaskar’s verbal attack, as India were bundled out for just 78 after winning the toss and batting first.
They also failed to pick any wickets as England finished the day with 120 for no loss. An inspiring performance from the Indian side will be needed on the second day if they are to make a comeback in the match.
