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Prove it, Gavaskar challenges Sarfraz

India's former cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar today said he is keeping his options open on whether to take former Pakistani pace bowler Sarfraz Nawaz to court for his remarks on television, accusing Gavaskar and then Pakistani skipper Asif Iqbal of disreputable practices during the Bombay Test of the 1979-80 series.

Nawaz had told Tony Greig in an interview during the third Asian Test Championship match at Lahore that Gavaskar and Iqbal had forced their players to play on a wet outfield even though most of them did not want to play.

Gavaskar said Nawaz should prove the allegations. "I have kept my options open though nothing has been decided yet," he said.

Gavaskar had previously said about the Pakistani that "he was sometimes so vulgar on the field that you felt like carrying your birth certificate along with you with your father's name on it".

Meanwhile, a lot of people in Pakistan and India have come out in defence of Gavaskar. A cross-section of people in Pakistan has, in fact, stated that Gavaskar has always been a friend of Pakistan cricket and it was wrong on Nawaz's part to deride such a great player.

Ironically, on the same day that Nawaz made his allegations, Gavaskar had supported the tactics of the Pakistani team led by Wasim Akram of allowing Sri Lanka to reach the ATC final so that they would not have to face India in Dacca.

UNI

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