Sunil Gavaskar slams Nasser Hussain for 'previous Indian generations got bullied' remark: Don't forget we defeated much better English sides

Master Blaster Sunil Gavaskar isn't the one to mince his words and his remarks, on-air or while writing for a coloumn, often create quite a stir. In the run-up to the third Test between India and England, which commenced on Wednesday (August 25) at Headingley, Leeds, Gavaskar came across former England captain Nasser Hussain's recent remarks on Team India's previous generation and slammed him left, right and centre. 

For the unversed, the 53-year-old Hussain wrote in his column for the Daily Mail, "Virat Kohli is the right man at the right time to lead this formidable India side. His players, in particular the bowlers, want an aggressive captain. They want Kohli stirring things up, as he did so effectively in that brilliant second Test at Lord’s… This India are not a side who will be bullied, as perhaps previous generations have been."

Gavaskar came across his comments and questioned Hussain on-air during the pre-show, on Sony Six, for the third Test. Here's how it all panned out between the two former cricketers:

Gavaskar: You said this India will not be bullied as perhaps the previous generations would be. (Me) Belonging to previous generation, could you perhaps enlighten which generation? And what is the exact meaning of bully?”

Hussain: I just think, the Indian side under the aggression of the past, would have said ‘no no no’. But what Kohli has done is to make them go doubly hard. I saw a little bit of that in Sourav Ganguly’s side and he started that, Virat is continuing with it. Even when Virat was not there, Ajinkya really went hard at the Australians. I just don’t think you want to wake this Indian side up.

Gavaskar: But when you say previous generations were bullied, I don’t think so. I’d be very upset if my generation was being talked about as being bullied. If you have a look at the record, in 1971 we won, that was my first tour in England. 1974, we had internal problems so we lost 3-0. 1979, we lost 1-0, it could have been 1-1 if we chased down 438 at the Oval. 1982 we again lost 1-0. In 1986 we won 2-0, we could have won it 3-0. So, I don’t think my generation we were bullied. I don’t think aggression means you have always got to be at the face of the opposition. You can show passion, you can show your commitment towards your team without yelling after each fall of wicket.

Hussain: I for one, quite like the way Kohli leads this side. That’s what I wanted to say. That team talk in which he said ‘let’s unleash fire on this English side’ and you could see the fire that they unleashed.

Gavaskar: There is no argument in that. The question is saying that the previous generations were bullied. I don’t think this is right.

Hussain's comments came after Virat Kohli-led India scripted a famous win in the second Test, of the ongoing five-match Test series versus England in the United Kingdom, at Lord's by 151 runs. Resuming Day 5 with a lead of only 154 runs, with 4 wickets in hand, India had their back against the wall and were reduced to 209-8 before Jasprit Bumrah-Mohammed Shami's unbeaten 89-run stand took India to 298-8, setting up a daunting 272-run target.

In reply, England were bundled out for 120 as India went 1-0 up in the series. What stood out in India's win was Kohli & Co.'s aggressive tactics versus the English camp, who tried to reply in a similar manner but their ploy fell flat.