Former Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar has lashed out at the Australian media for being ‘scaremongers’ by attempting to pressure the visitors’ batters before the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test at Perth. His comments came days after India completed an incredible 295-run victory, handing the Aussies their first Test defeat at the Perth Stadium.

In his column for Sportstar, Gavaskar wrote, “All the boasts about how the pitch is going to be pacy and bouncy and scare the living daylights out of the Indian batters were exactly that — the boasts of a bully. Mind you, it wasn’t the Aussie players but their support staff in the media, both electronic and print, who were trying to be scaremongers.”

ALSO READ: “Shubman’s captaincy is very good” – Ravi Bishnoi on Shubman Gill

“It was very similar to 2007/8 after the kerfuffle between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds in the Sydney Test match. The Australian selectors had added Shaun Tait to the Aussie squad for the next Test match in Perth, and the media were going nuts, suggesting he was going to blow the Indians away on the fast, bouncy WACA pitch in Perth,” wrote Gavaskar.

In the same column, Sunil Gavaskar also recalled how former opener Virender Sehwag treated the Australian pace attack with dominance in the 2008 Perth Test as well.

“What happened? ‘The Wall’ was so solid, but before that, the swashbuckling Virender Sehwag had just swatted Brett Lee, Tait, and the others as if he was swatting the famous Perth flies. He singled out Tait for special attention as if to rubbish the Aussie media claims about the pacers scaring the Indian batters. At the end of the Test match, guess what happened? Tait took an indefinite break from international cricket,” said Gavaskar. “The Indians had the last laugh by winning the Test match and, if the umpires had not made some forgettable decisions under pressure from the Aussies in the previous Test match in Sydney, then India would have gone to Adelaide for the final Test of that series with the score 1-all.”