Posted:
Friday, March 09, 2007
Sunny: Aussies favourites but not popular
Agencies
India great Sunil Gavaskar has launched an astonishing attack on Ricky Ponting and his teammates ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup, saying they were never popular winners.Gavaskar, who was this week re-appointed head of the International Cricket Council's cricket committee, said Australia's recent setbacks on the field should gladden the hearts of rivals and fans alike.
However, he conceded that the defending champion, recovering from five consecutive limited-overs defeats with a scratchy win over Zimbabwe on Wednesday, remained the favourite to retain the ICC Cricket World Cup, which starts in the Caribbean next week.
"Australia's comeuppance at the hands of England and New Zealand has gladdened the hearts of not just the other aspirants for the ICC Cricket World Cup but also the followers of the game,'' Gavaskar wrote in the latest issue of the respected India Today magazine.
"There is not the slightest doubt that in the past decade or so the Aussies have been awesome in batting, bowling and fielding which has taken them to the top of the cricketing ladder in both Test and limited-overs cricket.
"But they have also been awful in the way they have sometimes behaved on the field much to the chagrin of the traditional fans of the game.
"Unlike the West Indies teams of the 1970s and 1980s which dominated world cricket in much the same way as the Australians are doing now, the Australians are not popular winners.
"The Windies were feared for the ferocity of their attack and the aggression of their batsmen but at the end of the playing day the West Indian player was not only admired but also liked.
"They went about their job in a no fuss manner and hardly had anything to say to the opponents, unlike the Aussies who have plenty to say and seldom in a humorous way. Banter works - abuse doesn't."
Australia conceded the tri-series at home to England 2-0 last month and was then thrashed 3-0 in New Zealand after failing to defend 300-plus scores in the final two matches.
Gavaskar said Australia's powerful batting will make up for the bowling which had "lost its sharp edge".
"It would only be a fool who would rule out the Australians as the favourites to win the ICC Cricket World Cup for the third consecutive time," he wrote.
"If anything, their batting is still as destructive as it has been and it's the bowling which has lost its sharp edge and finding it tough to defend even huge totals.
"The number of times opponents have overtaken 300-plus totals that the Australian have set is an indication that there is not the awe about the Aussie bowlers that was there a season or so ago."
Gavaskar backed five teams - Australia, India, New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka - as possible winners of the 2007 edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup. 😕
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