Every Board Has Money To Buy These Covers: Sunil Gavaskar Slams Cricket South Africa After IND vs SA T20I Washout

Former India legend Sunil Gavaskar launched a scathing on-air attack on Cricket South Africa (CSA) after groundsmen did not cover the entire field before the coin toss despite prior rain at the Kingsmead in Durban on Sunday.

Expressing anguish, Gavaskar said that he failed to understand why the CSA did not have proper apparatus in place to prevent the formation of puddles and the ground getting water-logged despite getting paid enough.

"If the ground remains uncovered and the rain stops, you know it doesn't start for another one hour. Suddenly it rains again. So there's no play whatsoever. Everybody (cricket boards) is getting a lot of money. Let's make no mistake. All the cricket boards have got plenty of money. If they say they don't, they are lying. They might not have as much money as the BCCI. Fair enough. But every board has got money to buy these covers to cover the entire ground," Gavaskar told Star Sports.

Gavaskar recalled the 2019 World Cup in England, where several matches were impacted by rain, including the India vs New Zealand semifinal in Manchester and said, "So many World Cup matches in England did not take place because the ground was not covered. The rain had stopped, but the rest of the ground was, you know, wet. So a lot of teams lost points. South Africa, I remember that they wanted to play against some team and the match didn't take place or something had happened, mainly because the outfield was wet."

Citing the example of Eden Gardens, Gavaskar praised its drainage facilities and it's fully covered rain management system.

"What the boards need to do now is to cover the entire ground. Let's have no excuse. I remember I think there was one Test match at Eden Gardens called where there was some problem at the game didn't start. Next game, Eden Gardens had the entire ground covered. That is the kind of initiative that you want to have. Sourav Ganguly was the man in charge and he made sure that nobody could point the finger at Eden Gardens," Gavaskar added.