Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar on Tuesday slammed Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman for wearing his cap backwards. and India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik for wearing a jersey with only his initials on it.
Gavaskar wasn’t exactly amused when he saw Zaman trying to resemble a rapper wearing his national cap backside while bowling the 18th over of the Indian innings. “Somebody, maybe the captain should tell him that that it’s the national cap. He should wear it properly. You can do this in PSL (Pakistan Super League) may be but this is the national team,” Gavaskar said on air for the host broadcasters Star Sports.
The legend has it that Sunil Gavaskar during his days as a young cricketer of Dadar Union Club was given a piece of advice by club’ mentor Vithal ‘Marshal’ Patil: “If you can’t be a cricketer, at least dress like one”.
The former India captain then turned his attention towards Dinesh Karthik, whose jersey name carries his initials ‘DK’, which is also his nickname in the cricketing circuit. “May be that’s his nickname but since the jersey carries his number, people should identify with the name. Maybe with the name, he can have his initials,” Gavaskar said.
The 69-year-old has always been very touchy about how players treat their jerseys and caps as he learnt a lesson from his maternal uncle Madhav Mantri, when as a kid, he had demanded to wear former’s India pullovers. “You need to earn that pullover to wear it,” little Gavaskar was told by his uncle.
(With inputs from PTI)
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