Ban on Gambhir too harsh a punishment: Gavaskar

Batting great Sunil Gavaskar flayed the one Test ban on Gautam Gambhir for elbowing Shane Watson.

Batting great Sunil Gavaskar flayed the one Test ban on Gautam Gambhir for elbowing Shane Watson and said it would upset the balance of the ongoing India-Australia cricket series.

Gavaskar said Gambhir was guilty of misconduct but felt the one Test ban handed by Match Referee Chris Broad was too harsh, especially in comparison to the 10 per cent match fee

fine imposed on Watson, who provoked the Indian opener.

“Gambhir is guilty, no doubt about that and it’s (elbowing) just not on as far as cricket is concerned. But I think the punishment was little too harsh,” the former India captain told CNN-IBN channel.

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“Look at Watson, the man who provoked him, he was handed a 10 per cent match fee fine. Well, if Gambhir has done something which is 10 times wrong, make it 100 per cent match fee for him. But see the quantum of punishment he got,” Gavaskar said.

“By banning him for a Test match, it has changed the whole balance of the series. He is someone who has scored 400-plus runs in the series, two centuries and a double century. Now he is out of the Nagpur Test which would render India weak,” Gavaskar argued.