India flag cannot be defaced: Sunil Gavaskar

India defeated South Africa convincingly in match No. 37 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, as the Proteas fell short by 243 runs in pursuit of India's 326. Meanwhile, during the post-match live show on Star Sports, Sunil Gavaskar was seen disturbed by the Indian flag carrying a company's logo. As soon as the authorities told to fold the flag, Gavaskar was furious to see that on air.

Gavaskar said, “You cannot deface the Indian flag. It is not allowed”.

Watch the video here:

Just before the 74-year-old started speaking, Shreyas Iyer was having a chat with Ravi Shastri and Mayanti Langer alongside. The former cricketer wanted to ask him a question or two regarding his perspective on team's performance. However, his eyes caught the unknown company's logo with the Indian national flag somewhere in the stands, and Iyer had to leave without being asked anything by the legendary cricketer.

"Yeah, I wanted to ask him something, but I got a bit distracted because there was and Indian flag with a company's name on it. And you know, that is really not allowed. The India flag cannot be defaced by anything," Gavaskar said on air.

Gavaskar further opined that such acts must be disallowed by the law enforcement, and take strict and necessary actions against those who disrespect the national tricolour, which is a sense of pride for the Indian citizens.

"They (the flag-bearers) have gone now. In fact, I believe the police, next time they see something like that, they should not only confiscate the flag, but also warn those people not to put any advertising or whatever it is, whether a company or their product, on the India flag. That is completely not all. I am sorry, I got a bit distracted. I know Ravi (Shastri) wanted me to ask Shreyas a question, but I was just looking at those guys, and trying to signal them," he further added.

Speaking of the points table of the ODI World Cup, India are sitting comfortably at the top, with eight wins in as many games. South Africa, on the other hand, are second with six wins in eight games and 12 points to their tally. Both the teams have already qualified for the semi-finals, but they would want to win their last league stage game, respectively, in order to go into the knockouts with a winning momentum.

Also Check: ODI World Cup 2023 Points Table