'Frustration happens when home team is denied desired pitch'

Sunil Gavaskar asks on Tuesday 'What's wrong in the pitches suiting home teams?'

New Delhi: Amid the controversy over Team Director Ravi Shastri's alleged verbal duel with Wankhede curator, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar on Tuesday said there is bound to be frustration when a home team does not get a desired pitch but there should be control over the language.

The hosts lost the fifth ODI by 214 runs to lose the series 2-3 on Sunday. But the spotlight soon turned towards the pitched battle between Shastri and Sudhir Naik. It was reported that Shastri abused Naik after passing a sarcastic comment on the nature of the track post the visitors managed a mammoth 438 for four, while batting first. Gavaskar though refused to take sides.

"What's wrong in the pitches suiting home teams? And when you do not get pitches to your liking there is bound to be frustration and sarcastic remarks may fly. But you should have control over your language. When there is disappointment there are words spoken that you regret later. While Ravi has denied using abusive language, but Sudhir said that he did so it's one person's version versus the other," Gavaskar told NDTV.

"It should also be found out that what did the Mumbai Cricket Association tell the curator. The team management can tell the state board how it wants the pitch and then it is conveyed to the curator, that's how it works. And it's not the first time that the team hasn't got it's pitch. That's part of life, you lose a game, move on," he added.

Though the batting legend said that the loss had nothing to do with the pitch, "No, I don't think the pitch was a factor for the big loss. I think it was ordinary bowling (by India) and superlative batting by the South Africans."

The former opener is also critical of Saurashtra's home pitches, which are producing two-day results in the ongoing Ranji season with left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja spinning a web on the opposition teams.

"We have just had a case where Saurashtra has won three of its Ranji Trophy matches in two days with Ravindra Jadeja opening the bowling. He is turning the ball square, picking up, I think, 25 wickets in three matches, he is now in the Test team, Saurashtra are in the top of the order.

"As soon as a team scores 600 or 700 an inspector should be sent to the ground and he should be asked to make a report. And if he gives a negative report, which in Indian cricket will take lot of guts to do then action needs to be taken against that particular association and it's not neccessarily in terms of fines, I think the best way would be to deduct the points. That will ensure not too many doctored pitches are given in domestic cricket," Gavaskar opined.