T20 World Cup: "That didn’t happen despite the ICC giving good money to the country for hosting" - Sunil Gavaskar slams Cricket Australia for lack of precautions amid unforeseen weather conditions  

Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar slammed Cricket Australia for mismanagement of the T20 World Cup matches amid unreasonable weather circumstances.

The eighth edition of the T20 World Cup is at its business end after the completion of 42 matches in the Qualifiers and Super 12 stage. India, Pakistan, New Zealand, and England are the four teams to have advanced to the knockout stage.

However, a total of four matches were washed out owing to rain showers, and three others were determined by the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern (DLS) method. Such results forced fans and experts to criticize the International Cricket Council (ICC) for their scheduling of the showpiece event.

Citing the instance of South Africa losing one point against Zimbabwe when they were just 29 runs short off 36 balls, Gavaskar, in his column for Sportstar, mentioned the mismanagement of Cricket Australia.

Gavaskar wrote:

“South Africa had missed out that time because the games could not start despite the rains having stopped. When you know that rains are quite regular in that country, there should have been an effort to give the crowd, which had paid good money, the chance to see some action by taking the precaution to cover the entire ground.”

He further mentioned:

“That didn’t happen despite the ICC giving good money to the country for hosting it. Therefore, it’s a bit rich to question the timing of the tournament.”

"Imagine questioning the tournament because England’s match got washed out" -Sunil Gavaskar takes a dig at English media for biased takes

England’s qualification chances were hanging by a thread after they lost to Ireland by five runs via DLS method in Melbourne. A section of the English media and their pundits were busy criticizing the ICC for scheduling a showpiece event in Australia.

Gavaskar was keen to remind the English media of the weather conditions during the 2019 World Cup held in England and Wales. Writing on England’s biased takes on the two identical situations, Gavaskar wrote:

“Now that England have reached the semifinals some of their media, which was questioning the timing of the tournament where the winter has lingered on, should be a happier lot.”

He added:

“Imagine questioning the tournament because England’s match got washed out when just three years back at the 50 0vers World Cup in England many games were rained off and some could not start because the outfield, which was not covered, was still wet and soggy for the umpires’ liking.

New Zealand will take on Pakistan in the first semi-final on Wednesday, November 9, in Sydney, while India will lock horns with England in the knockout fixture in Adelaide on November 10.