Sunil Gavaskar Calls Out Double Standards In Pitch Criticism After Perth Test

Gavaskar questioned the contrasting criticism of spin pitches in India and pace-friendly tracks abroad.

Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has questioned the different reactions to spin-friendly and pace-friendly pitches. This comes after the first Ashes Test in Perth ended within two days with 32 wickets falling.

The match saw Australia secure an eight-wicket victory. Travis Head scored a century on a surface where 19 wickets fell on the first day alone. Gavaskar contrasted this with the criticism faced by the spin-assisted pitch at Eden Gardens during the recent India-South Africa Test, which ended in three days.

Gavaskar Highlights Perceived Hypocrisy In Pitch Talk

“The Perth Test match has ended in less than two days with 32 wickets having fallen, including 19 on the first day, but as yet there’s not a word of criticism about the pitch there,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day. “Last year too, 17 wickets fell on Day One at Perth between India and Australia, and I can’t recall a critical word about the pitch, which had more grass on it than usual.”

He pointed out that similar conditions in Sydney also did not attract significant criticism. Gavaskar argued that pitches offering turn in India should be accepted just as bouncing tracks in Australia are.

“The argument, as enumerated by the curator in Perth last year, was ‘this is Perth, Australia, and you will get bounce’. Fine, but then when the pitch affords turn, why can’t it be accepted that this is India, and there will be turn?” Gavaskar said. “If you complain about the bounce, then the counter argument is you can’t play fast bowling. Why is there never a counter argument that you can’t play spin bowling when the pitch affords turn in India?”

He suggested an underlying bias in how such situations are judged. “Is it the old syndrome of mistakes being made by their umpires being called human error, while those errors made by subcontinent umpires were cheating? So similarly, is it that the curators there have no agenda, but those in India do?”

Gavaskar also welcomed questions from recently retired cricketers about the high number of wickets falling in a day in Perth. “So guys, it’s time to stop pointing fingers at Indian cricket as there are three of the same hand pointing back at you,” he added. Sunil Gavaskar highlighted the perceived double standards in cricket pitch criticism.