'You're the 'dadas' in India but...' - Sunil Gavaskar triggered over Rahul Dravid's response to 'falling average' criticism by ex-players

After the disheartening defeat in the WTC Final, Sourav Ganguly and Harbhajan Singh, both former cricketers, interrogated India's head coach Rahul Dravid about the different aspects that went into the defeat. Ganguly noted that India's batters have had difficulty in recent years and claimed that their averages have been a source of concern.

The former India captain insisted that the batting order has to be changed because very few batters have recently averaged higher than 30. However, Dravid said that players from all around the world, not just those from India, have suffered as a result of result-oriented pitches and the World Test Championship's competitive atmosphere.

“Our top-5 is quite experienced. These players will be considered legends; the same boys won the series in Australia, the same boys won in England as well. They are good players. But I accept, and I think they will as well, that they didn't do justice to the high standards that they've set for themselves,” Dravid told Ganguly on Star Sports.

"We are working on it. Some of the wickets have been quite challenging. This was a good wicket, I admit, but there were many conditions which weren't quite good for batting. In WTC cycle, every match is important. We can't play for draw anymore. We have difficult wickets in India, and result-oriented wickets are there outside India as well. So, all players have taken a hit on their averages, it's not just our players. But yes, we know that we need to score runs on the board to give our bowlers a chance. That's what we used to do.”

‘Cannot say that the current lot is beyond criticism’ – Sunil Gavaskar

After the interview, the camera panned across to Sunil Gavaskar, who was getting ready for a different part, on the opposing side of the pitch. Gavaskar became enraged and insisted that Dravid should concentrate on his own team when the anchor brought up Dravid's reasoning for the declining averages and asked for his view.

“It doesn't matter what the other players' averages are. We are talking about the Indian team now. The Indian players' averages are falling, something has to be done. The batting is the one which is costing problems. Why is it happening? That's something we need to look at. You bat well in India, you are the ‘dadas’ in India, but then, some of them falter outside,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.

"Is the level of coaching not what you require? Is there not much of analysis about areas where you lack? Honest self-assessment is an absolute necessity after this. One team is going to win, one is going to lose. It's how you lose, that's the thing. That hurts.

“We have also been knocked out. And we have been miserable. You cannot say that the current lot is beyond criticism. You have to be analytical about what happened out there. Was our approach right? Was our selection right? You can't brush this under the carpet,” Gavaskar further said.