Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar offered a fitting statement to former England captain Nasser Hussain, who criticized India and the International Cricket Council (ICC) over the heated moments with Bangladesh. Gavaskar gave Hussain a gentle reminder of what the England cricket team had done a few years ago.
Gavaskar addressed England for a number of reasons in his column for Sportstar. The great cricket player acknowledged the tremendous talent of Vaibhav Suryavanshi and also took a dig at England.
Sunil Gavaskar praised Vaibhav Suryavanshi
Fourteen-year-old top-order batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi smashed a blistering 175 off 80 balls, the highest individual score in a U19 World Cup final, as India scored 411 runs and reclaimed the title with a resounding 100-run win. Behind India Under-19’s victory in the summit clash, there is no doubt that young talent played a key role.
Gavaskar wrote in his column, “In the recently concluded final of the ICC Under-19 World Cup, Vaibhav Suryavanshi scored 175 runs in just 80 balls against England and single-handedly took the game away from their opponents. To England’s credit, they responded well and also scored 311 runs in reply to the Indian players’ 411.”
Nasir Hussain pointed fingers at India and ICC
But the centerpiece of Gavaskar’s column is his views on Nasser Hussain’s comments on the BCCI-Bangladesh standoff. The former England cricketer believed that if Team India had been there instead of Bangladesh, perhaps the ICC would not have been able to take the final decision so soon. Since Bangladesh did not want to travel to India to play their T20 World Cup 2026 matches, the ICC removed the Bangladesh cricket team from the tournament.
“If India say a month before a tournament, ‘Our government doesn’t want us to play in a country for the World Cup,’ would the ICC be so strict and say, ‘You know the rules, unfortunately, we’re throwing you out?'” Hussain asked during a Sky Sports Cricket podcast.
“The only thing all sides are asking for is continuity. Bangladesh, Pakistan and India should be treated equally. Yes, India fans can say, ‘And cry, we have money!’ But with power also comes responsibility,” he added.
Gavaskar shut the mouth of former England captain
In reply, Gavaskar referred to the 2003 World Cup incident when the England cricket team refused to travel to Zimbabwe not because of security concerns but for political reasons. Then the ICC approved the petition of the England cricket team.
Sunil Gavaskar wrote, “In the 2003 World Cup, England refused to play in Zimbabwe, probably because they did not like to see then President Robert Mugabe announcing his policies. There was no security threat, yet they forfeited their points. Did the ICC do anything? No, because the English and Australian boards were dominant at that time and the others did not want to upset them.”
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