‘If you don’t score on turning tracks, you’re not great’: Sunil Gavaskar slams double standards after Perth pitch gets top rating | Cricket News
NEW DELHI: Batting great Sunil Gavaskar has ignited one of game’s oldest debates with a forceful argument that flips the global batting skill hierarchy on its head. In his latest Sportstar column, the former India captain not only defends turning pitches in the subcontinent but also questions why surfaces that endanger batters with steep bounce continue to be glorified internationally — a point sharpened by the Perth Ashes Test receiving a “very good” rating despite finishing inside two days.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The match, which saw 19 wickets fall on Day 1 and ended in just 48 hours, was still rated at the highest level of the ICC’s pitch assessment scale. Gavaskar called the rating unsurprising, noting that match referee Ranjan Madugalle is “fair, firm and respected across teams,” adding that few would challenge his verdict. But he pointed to the lone dissenting voice: Australia opener Usman Khawaja, who described the pitch as a “piece of s**t.”
Khawaja’s criticism — rooted in uneven bounce that even struck Steve Smith on the back elbow — highlighted concerns Gavaskar believes would trigger outrage if they occurred on a turning track in Asia. “Their narrative that a pitch with bounce and danger to life and limb is never bad, but a pitch where the ball turns and keeps low is a disgrace, is sadly still believed even by the complexed ones in the sub-continent,” he wrote, accusing cricket’s power centres of longstanding bias.Gavaskar used the moment to reiterate a central thesis: playing high-quality spin requires superior skill. “To counter spin, it is not just about playing forward or back, but also about going down the pitch to smother the turn. That’s where skill comes in,” he argued. Advancing to fast bowlers, in contrast, is “more a desperate, premeditated measure… more luck than skill.”
Poll
Do you agree with Sunil Gavaskar’s view that playing on turning pitches requires more skill than playing on fast, bouncy pitches?
The strongest line is Gavaskar’s final word on greatness.“So, for me, playing on a turning pitch requires more talent and footwork than playing pace. That is why, if you don’t score runs on such surfaces, you are not a great batter.”The second Ashes Test is starting December 4 in Brisbane, which will be a day-night pink-ball contest.
