 Gavaskar feels India's growing stature upsetting England, Australia
24th Mar 2008 14:02 IST
Agencies
``Those worried at the prospect of India's hegemony were conveniently forgetting that only a few years back, there were two Australians at the top of the ICC - Malcolm Gray as president and Malcolm Speed as the CEO - but there were no fears about Australia ruling the game then,'' Gavaskar wrote.
``The cricketing world has found that India no longer has a diffident voice in the international cricketing community, but a confident one that knows what is good for its cricket, and will strive to get it.''
Gavaskar's comments come weeks after the Indian team's return from a contentious three-month tour of Australia. The tour was dogged by controversies involving racism, sledging and umpiring, with much of it centered on India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.
Harbhajan had a three-Test ban for an alleged racist remark against Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds in the second test overturned on appeal - after India threatened to withdraw from the tour if it was upheld.
That followed India's successful lobbying to have umpire Steve Bucknor removed from the Test series after a string of poor decisions in the second Test left India trailing 2-0 in the four-match series it eventually lost 2-1. India then won a best-of-three, limited-overs finals series 2-0 against Australia.
``Gone are the days when two countries - England and Australia - had the veto power in international cricket, even though the dinosaurs, still trying to voice their prejudiced opinions in the media, may not open their eyes and see the reality,'' Gavaskar wrote.
"When all the technology in the world was unable to prove that he had indeed said anything, these guys, especially those in Australia, having got so used to getting it their way, were unable to stomach it," Gavaskar wrote. |
