A whingeing and moaning media in sport

For a generation brought up on the IPL and the unipolar world of cricket, it might be difficult to understand the gratuitous criticism from the English media in Sunil Gavaskar’s playing days.

Getting away: On the 1992-93 tour, it was learnt that England’s skipper Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting were tucking into prawns in a Chennai restaurant. Gooch missed the Test next day and Gatting had to leave the field often. England decided not to take disciplinary action, according to Wisden which said that England lost to 11 men and a plate of prawns. Perhaps “a few plates” would have been closer to the truth. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Photo Library

“In about three weeks’ time, another Test series starts with a country that has the biggest whingeing and moaning media in sport. Anything that doesn’t suit their team will be criticised, and allegations will fly thick and fast,” wrote Sunil Gavaskar, and it got me thinking about my tribe.

For a generation brought up on the IPL and the unipolar world of cricket, it might be difficult to understand the gratuitous criticism from the English media in Gavaskar’s playing days. During one match, a prominent writer ignored the cricket to discuss the state of the toilets. Indian pitches, Indian umpires, Indian food, Indian crowds, Indian communication systems, Indian hotel rooms, and Indian transport all came in for severe criticism. Some deservingly, others as part of the package.

Since then, many things on that list have become superior to what’s available for Indian teams abroad.

Here’s E. M. Wellings on England’s 1963–64 tour: “An additional hazard in India is the risk of stomach trouble. (England) arranged for their team to take tinned food from England for use where European cooking is not understood.” Indians on tour, however, didn’t carry tinned Indian food to centres where Indian food wasn’t understood and often suffered as a consequence.

Now we read that the current England team is bringing with them their own chef. This, when chickentikka masalais Britain’s national dish!

Till about four decades ago, India was not the ideal tour. Some of it was owing to the conditions, some to the manner in which the visitors conducted themselves.

On the 1992-93 tour, an Indian player told me about England’s skipper Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting tucking into prawns in a Chennai restaurant. Gooch missed the Test the next day, and Gatting (not known for undereating) had to leave the field often. England decided not to take disciplinary action, according to Wisden,which said that England lost to 11 men and a plate of prawns. Perhaps “a few plates” would have been closer to the truth.

Do other countries think of the Indian media as whingeing and moaning, jingoistic, or as another weapon in the armoury of their sports teams? Do fans in our own country expect the media to be nationalistic?

I get trolled when I criticise Virat Kohli. Occasionally, an old column I have written (different time, different context) begins to circulate on social media again, and I am trolled afresh. Years ago, when I suggested that Sachin Tendulkar should play fewer one-day games in order to extend his Test career, the magazine it appeared in gave the headline ‘Endulkar’, and my relations with the cricketer were frosty for a while.

In fact, Gavaskar himself, who was extremely warm and kind to me on my first international tour in the 1980s, was upset when I wrote something critical about him. On Gundappa Viswanath’s 70th birthday, bygones were finally left where they should be. That whole episode is nicely captured by Ram Guha in his book  The Commonwealth of Cricket.