'Don't forget we won against much better English sides' - Sunil Gavaksar lambastes Nasser Hussain for 'previous Indian generations got bullied' remark

Taking an offence against Nasser Hussain’s ‘pre-Virat Kohli generation got bullied’ remark, former India captain and batter Sunil Gavaskar lambasted his English counterpart during an interaction in the build-up to the third Test at Headingley, Leeds.

Hussain, 53, in his column for the Daily Mail, wrote: “Virat Kohli is the right man at the right time to lead this formidable India side. His players, in particular the bowlers, want an aggressive captain. They want Kohli stirring things up, as he did so effectively in that brilliant second Test at Lord’s… This India are not a side who will be bullied, as perhaps previous generations have been.”

A veteran of 125 Tests, Gavaskar, questioned Hussain during the pre-show aired on Sony Six.

Don’t forget India won 1-0 in 1971, 2-0 in 1986 against better English sides: Sunil Gavaskar 

Gavaskar: “You said this India will not be bullied as perhaps the previous generations would be. (Me) Belonging to previous generation, could you perhaps enlighten which generation? And what is the exact meaning of bully?”

Hussain: “I just think, the Indian side under the aggression of the past, would have said ‘no no no’. But what Kohli has done is to make them go doubly hard. I saw a little bit of that in Sourav Ganguly’s side and he started that, Virat is continuing with it. Even when Virat was not there, Ajinkya really went hard at the Australians. I just don’t think you want to wake this Indian side up.”

Gavaskar: “But when you say previous generations were bullied, I don’t think so. I’d be very upset if my generation was being talked about as being bullied. If you have a look at the record, in 1971 we won, that was my first tour in England. 1974, we had internal problems so we lost 3-0. 1979, we lost 1-0, it could have been 1-1 if we chased down 438 at the Oval. 1982 we again lost 1-0. In 1986 we won 2-0, we could have won it 3-0. So, I don’t think my generation we were bullied. I don’t think aggression means you have always got to be at the face of the opposition. You can show passion, you can show your commitment towards your team without yelling after each fall of wicket.”

Standing by his opinion, Hussain stated that he feels Kohli’s India is fearless and into their opponent’s face. He acknowledged the change of attitude in the Indian team after Sourav Ganguly took India’s captaincy, while he reckoned that Kohli has taken that mindset a notch higher.

Hussain: “I for one, quite like the way Kohli leads this side. That’s what I wanted to say. That team talk in which he said ‘let’s unleash fire on this English side’ and you could see the fire that they unleashed.”

Gavaskar: “There is no argument in that. The question is saying that the previous generations were bullied. I don’t think this is right.”

Notably, Indian skipper Virat Kohli on the eve of the Headingley Test lucidly stated how India would not take a backward step if provoked.