Sunil Gavaskar had openly criticised Virat Kohli© BCCI/Sportzpics
Indian cricket greats Virat Kohli and Sunil Gavaskar unexpected went head-to-head after the former openly criticised commentators and experts for questioning his strike-rate and struggles against spinners. Gavaskar, in a reply on Live TV, went on a fiery rant as he slammed Kohli to ‘wanting appreciation for a strike-rate of 118′ while also hitting out at the broadcaster Star Sports for showing the Royal Challengers Bengaluru batters’ rant repeatedly on TV. Reacting to the controversy, Pakistan cricket great Wasim Akram sided with Gavaskar, saying Virat shouldn’t have said what he did.
Gavaskar is one of those pundits who doesn’t believe in mincing his words, be it as a commentator or as a pundit. He wasn’t happy seeing Kohli come out all guns blazing against him and other critics despite earlier suggesting that he doesn’t read what is said in the social media.
“Both are greats. Sunny bhai, as a cricketer, as a human being, I know him off the field. As a commentator, he has been doing it for God knows how many years, probably for more than two and a half years. And coming to the great man, Virat Kohli, he is a top player, a modern great. In fact, he is an all-time great in history, given the kind of performances he has had. But”I think Virat shouldn’t have said it,” Wasim Akram told Sportskeeda.
While the spat between Virat and Gavaskar made plenty of headlines, Akram doesn’t feel either of them will drag the chatter as they both move on quickly.
“It is the commentators’ job. If he got slow in a couple of matches and he [Gavaskar] said something, forget about it. Virat is not that kind of a person. Both are proud Indians; both are greats. It’s OK; they both will move in pretty quickly. Don’t think either will take it personally. They will be fine, I know. I am telling you now. I know them both very well,” Akram added.
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