Sunil Gavaskar labels England as ‘biggest whingeing media in sport’ ahead of India Test series

Ahead of India’s five-match Test series against England, former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar took a dig at the visiting team and called them out for having the ‘biggest whingeing and moaning media in sport’. Notably, India’s recent Test against South Africa saw the game finishing under two days, which sparked a lot of questions regarding the nature of the surface. Skipper Rohit Sharma however made it clear that the Indian players had no problem in playing on such a pitch, as they were ready to challenge themselves. Nonetheless, he also pointed out that the visiting team too shouldn’t complain about the surfaces when they come to play in the subcontinent.

Taking that into consideration, Gavaskar pointed out that England always complain about the surface when they come to play Test cricket in India. He added that anything that doesn’t suit their team will be criticised by the media. The former cricketer also took a dig at other SENA countries and called them out for their hypocrisy in the past.

“These kind of excuses that the curator got it wrong is typical of the SENA countries. It’s like before the third country umpires came in, where decisions by their umpires were excused as ‘human error’ while our umpires were cheats and ‘Delhi Butchers’ and all such derogatory headlines,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day.

“In about three weeks time another Test series starts with a country that has the biggest whingeing and moaning media in sport. Anything that doesn’t suit their team will be criticised and allegations will fly thick and fast,” the 74-year-old added.

Meanwhile, England are set to reach India on January 22 as the first Test will begin on January 25 in Hyderabad. Ahead of that, the Ben Stokes-led side will set up a camp in the United Arab Emirates, in which, their main focus will be to tackle spinners. The Three Lions will also be carrying a specialized cook for the long series.