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Sunil Gavaskar reveals why everyone is ‘laughing’ at Australian cricket team

India will play four-match Test series against Australia starting December 6 at the Adelaide Oval.

Sunil Gavaskar reveals why everyone is ‘laughing’ at Australian cricket team

Australian cricketers Usman Khawaja (R) and Aaron Finch (L) walk. (Photo: AFP)

Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar slammed Australian team for their culture of “win-at-all-cost mentality”. Gavaskar also said Australians often broke the line between “cheating & gamesmanship” in order to win everything.

“They tend to break the fine line between cheating and gamesmanship. They tell us we will not cross the line but what their line is no one knows. It’s like our line of control,” he said.

Sunil Gavaskar’s comment has come after former Australian skipper Michael Clarke said Australia “won’t win a game” if the team were worried about its image before the opposition team.

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“Australian cricket, I think, needs to stop worrying about being liked and start worrying about being respected,” Clarke had said.

Taking a dig at the troubled Australian side, Sunil Gavaskar also said now that they had started losing everyone was “laughing” at them.

“Australians coming in and engaging in abuse, I have never understood that. That’s why now when they are losing, everyone is laughing. While even the Windies team is struggling, everyone wants them to come up. That’s the difference. That’s why people liked the West Indies team that won so much. Even Australia had a team that dominated for more than a decade but no one liked them for the way they played,” Gavaskar told India Today.

Speaking about the Australian culture, Gavaskar said, “Their attitude over the years has been most different from other teams where they look to win at all cost. There is a fine line between breaking the rule and bending the rule. And their (culture) review told the world that their administrators did nothing about it.”

In March this year, during Australia’s tour to South Africa, the Kangaroo team were rocked by a ball-tampering scandal, following which Cricket Australia handed out a 12-month ban on the then Aussie skipper Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner. Young batsman Cameron Bancroft was suspended for nine months for his involvement in the incident.

Virat Kohli-led India will play four-match Test series against Australia starting December 6 at the Adelaide Oval.

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