Sunil Gavaskar upset with India, Sri Lanka players’ on-field behaviour, says kids are watching

Ishant Sharma exchanged a few words with Dhammika Prasad and Dinesh Chandimal on Monday. (Source: Reuters)

Former captain Sunil Gavaskar on Monday loathed the way Indian and Sri Lankan cricketers got involved in ugly on-field altercations, saying such incidents are poor advertisement for the sport.

Indian paceman Ishant Sharma exchanged a few words with Dhammika Prasad and Dinesh Chandimal on Monday, and on Sunday, the gangling bowler argued with Rangana Herath and Kusal Perera.

“These are some of the scene that you don’t want to see. The kids are watching and international players are role models. This is just a sport which should be enjoyed. You don’t want the parents to tell their kids that you should not play this sport,” Gavaskar told NDTV.

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However, the batting legend was impressed with the way Ishant has bowled in this Test.

“He was terrific. The wrist position is better, the seam is upright, the away going delivery seems to have come back. It’s good news for the Indian cricket. If he can control (his temperament), it’s good (for the team),” he said.

Gavaskar also had an advise for Stuart Binny.

“His partnership with Rohit Sharma steadied the innings. He played as he usually plays. If he can stop thinking about aerial shots, it will be good. He should play his shots butalong the ground.”

The former captain was also impressed with the batting of the lower-order batsmen.

“It was fantastic. It was good to see the application shown. Amit Mishra was promoted and wickets in first innings must have spurred him on. The determination required was there. You just don’t sell your wicket cheaply. Make it hard for the opponents,” he said.

Asked about the struggle of the openers of both the teams in the series, Gavaskar said,” the credit goes to the new ball bowlers. The kind of line and length they bowled made the job of the openers tough. There surely was technical deficiency. They played with foot forward and missed the range of shots on the back-foot.”