The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : ‘Bad mouthing has no place in the game’

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‘Bad mouthing has no place in the game’

Special Correspondent

Mumbai: Never short on wit Sunil Gavaskar brought out a collection of anecdotes in his 45-minute speech at the inaugural Dilip Sardesai Memorial Lecture at the C.K. Nayudu Hall, Cricket Club of India on Thursday evening. Quite pleased were the Sardesai family and a packed audience that included former Test and Mumbai cricketers and officials.

Gavaskar began his speech recalling how Sardesai, with an eye for talent spotting and endowed with technical expertise, helped him in his first steps in international cricket on the tour of the West Indies in 1971.

The legendary Indian batsman then touched upon a number of aspects related to the “glorious game of cricket”, notably the correct way to react after scoring a century or dismissing a batsman and emulate the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.

Gavaskar said there’s no place for bad-mouthing in cricket. “Some of them react in macho-style. It’s not necessary. Tendulkar and Dravid just look up toward the sky, thank the Lord and acknowledge the cheers from the dressing room and the spectators. These days the cameras make lip-reading easy. One is better off smiling at his achievement and not mouthing foul words,” he said.

Worrying factor

With regard to the advancement of Twenty20 cricket he said: “Parents are encouraging their children to play cricket because of the Indian Premier League. But the worrying factor is far too many youngsters are seeing IPL as the be all and end all of cricket and not the India cap.

“Several players are missing the domestic tournaments to be fit for the IPL. Some in the age group of 19 and 22 get carried away by the fame and success and one should guard against this feeling that IPL is the be all and end all of cricket and not the India cap.”

He also agreed with Adam Gilchrist’s view that Twenty20 should be included in Olympics to make the game truly global.

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