‘Why’s he talking about my pants?’: When Sunil Gavaskar was confused after Pakistani player sledged him
In modern-day cricket, sledging has become a part and parcel of the sport. But there was a time when it was a rare occurrence in the field. Especially in the era of players like Sunil Gavaskar and the West Indian dominance of the sport, there was rarely a nasty comment made at opponents even in the heat of battle, no matter what was at stake.
In fact, so rare was sledging in Gavaskar’s playing days that he recollected being confused when a Pakistani cricketer tried to sledge him in a game because the comment was being made in chaste Punjabi. While Gavaskar did not name the player, or mention which game the incident happened, he revealed, “This guy was standing in front at the end of every other delivery and he was, you know, just calling me with a word that started like pan. I didn’t know ...