Nasser Hussain recently questioned the ICC and BCCI amid the T20 World Cup 2026 boycott row.
Not the one to mince his words, legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar took a dig at former England skipper Nasser Hussain for his recent comments on the ICC-PCB row.
Reflecting on India U19 opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s whirlwind hundred in the U19 World Cup 2026 final against England last week, Gavaskar said it was the “real bullying”, and not the kind that “jaundiced people” imagine.
Gavaskar’s remark was a sharp response to Hussain, who recently questioned the ICC and BCCI amid the T20 World Cup 2026 boycott row, with Bangladesh refusing to send its team and Pakistan declining to play India in the tournament.
Sooryavanshi took the cricketing world by storm as he smashed a blistering 175 off 80 balls in the U19 World Cup 2026 final versus England in Harare last Friday (February 6). His knock, studded with 15 fours and 15 sixes, propelled India to a gigantic total of 411/9.
England fell 100 runs short in the chase, courtesy a collapse from 142/2 to 177/7, with RS Ambrish claiming three wickets and Kanishk Chauhan returning with two scalps as well.
In his column for Sportstar, Gavaskar heaped praise on Sooryavanshi, saying that the 14-year-old single-handedly took the game away from England.
“In the just-concluded final of the ICC Under-19 World Cup, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed 175 off only 80 balls against England and single-handedly took the game away from his opponents. To England’s credit, they responded well and also got to 311 in reply to the Indian colts’ 411,” Gavaskar wrote.
The 76-year-old could not resist taking a swipe at Hussain while referring to Sooryavanshi’s innings.
“Now, what young Sooryavanshi did is bullying, and not the imaginary kind that some jaundiced people see,” he added.
Earlier last week, Nasser Hussain questioned the ICC’s decision to remove Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup after the BCB refused to send its team to India, citing 'security concerns'. He also advocated equal treatment for India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
“If India, a month before a tournament, said, ‘Our government does not want us to play in a country for a World Cup,’ would the ICC have been so firm and said, ‘You know the rules, bad luck, we’re knocking you out?’” Hussain said on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.
“The only thing all sides ask for is consistency. Bangladesh, Pakistan and India must be treated the same. Yes, India fans may say, ‘Cry more, we have the money!’ But with power comes responsibility,” he added.
The comments did not go down well with Gavaskar, who refrained from taking Hussain’s name in his column.
“There are some others, especially from the old powers, for whom India replacing them as the power centre of world cricket has never gone down well. They were quick to join the noise and ask whether, if India had decided not to play in a country, the ICC would have accepted their position or thrown them out of the tournament,” Gavaskar wrote.
He went on to mention England’s refusal to play Zimbabwe under Nasser Hussain’s captaincy during the 2003 World Cup.
“In the 2003 World Cup, England refused to play in Zimbabwe, perhaps because they did not like the face of the then-President Robert Mugabe announcing his policies. There was no security threat, yet they forfeited their points. Did the ICC do anything? No, because at that stage, the English and Australian boards ruled the roost, and the others did not want to upset them,” he remarked.