Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar took a massive dig at the critics who slammed the pitches in India after the Shubman Gill-led side lost to South Africa in the first Test in Eden Gardens in Kolkata by 30 runs. The pitch turned and bounced from the first day itself, with Proteas spinners ruling the roost.

Several ex-international cricketers shared their opinions on the Eden Gardens pitch for the first Test, and one of them was former England captain Michael Vaughan, who called the Eden Gardens pitch 'awful.'

Sunil Gavaskar apparently mocked Vaughan, without naming him, for unnecessarily and unfairly criticizing Indian pitches.

“Even for this Test match at the Eden Gardens, one of Ben Stokes' has-beens has got vocal about the pitch simply because 15 wickets fell on day two. I have been a has-been longer than this has-been, but I can say with conviction that the pitch was tough, not impossible to bat on. Temba Bavuma showed that with his short backlift and soft hands, keeping his bat speed just slow enough so that even if the ball took the edge, it would not carry to the close-in fielder. He also showed admirable patience and great temperament, even when the ball went past the outside edge," Gavaskar wrote in a column for Sportstar.

"In essence, it was proper Test match batting and not what modern batters do the moment they find it is not a flat pitch and the ball is doing something off it,” he added.

Gavaskar went on to offer an example of foreign pitches that generated too many wickets in a single day.

"By the way, when India toured Australia last year, 17 wickets fell on day one in Perth. In Adelaide, 11 fell on the first day and 14 on the second. In Sydney, 11 wickets fell on day one and 15 on day two. Did the has-been have any complaints or caustic comments about those pitches? Absolutely not. Ten wickets on day two at Leeds. In Birmingham, eight wickets fell on the second, third, and fourth days.

At The Oval, 15 wickets fell on the second day, but of course, unsurprisingly, not a word of criticism about the pitches in Australia and England. Lots of wickets fall in a day in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, but nary a word of sarcasm. That is left for India and Indian pitches. So predictable, this haranguing about Indian pitches and finding fault with everything about Indian cricket,” Gavaskar added.

The second test between India and South Africa will be played in Guwahati from November 22 onwards.