ST KITTS: Glenn McGrath and Brad Hodge joined the chorus in slamming Sunil Gavaskar for linking Australian behaviour with the death of David Hookes, saying the Indian great’s remarks could “damage his relationship” with Australian cricket. “It is very disrespectful. Sunny was an amazing cricketer, but I think this time he’s gone beyond,” McGrath said.
Gavaskar recently described the Australians as “unpopular winners” because of their “awful” on-field behaviour. After skipper Ricky Ponting defended his team over the comments, Gavaskar stuck to his guns and cited the death of former Test batsman Hookes outside a Melbourne bar to illustrate his point.
Mcgrath said, “If that’s what he thinks, he’s allowed to comment on the team. But I think when you start bringing David Hookes into it, that’s crossing the line.” McGrath, known for his use of abusive language on the field to unsettle batsmen and for being engaged in an ugly verbal duel with Ramnaresh Sarwan in Antigua in 2003, said that Gavaskar’s outburst could damage his relationship with Australian cricket.
“I think potentially it could be. The comments are very disappointing when he’s mentioning David Hookes and you really feel for Hookesy’s family,” McGrath said.
McGrath also felt Gavaskar could be playing a mental game to have a crack at the tough Aussies. “I think Sunny sees Australia as the main threat to beat India and he’s trying to put us off our game,” he said. Defending his team’s behaviour, he added, “I’ve seen other teams do exactly what we have. I don’t think the Australians are any worse than any other teams. It’s fine to say that we are but at the end of the day I think the Indian team does it as well as every other.”
Hodge also sounded upset about Gavaskar dragging in his former coach Hookes’ name into the matter.
“I’m disappointed about comments made about my former coach David Hookes,” Hodge said.
