Sunil Gavaskar asks fans to stop defacing India's National Flag, calls it 'madness'

After a poor performance in the third test match of the England vs India series, team Virat Kohli's men bounced back enthusiastically at the Oval, registering their second test win of the tour to go 2-1 up in the five-match test series. Put to bat first, team India was bowled out for 191 despite both Thakur (57) and Virat Kohli (50) got to their half-centuries, courtesy of Woakes's 4-55.

India came out stronger and managed to score 466 courtesy to a century from Rohit (127) and scores from Pujara (61), Thakur (60) and Rishab Pant (50). England got off to a positive start and stitched a 100 run partnership for the opening wicket but soon wickets started falling and England were bowled at 210 giving India a 157 run win in London.  

What made the occasion special was Sunil Gavaskar’s presence in the commentary box. During the live telecast, the Indian commentator saw a few sections of fans with a Tricolour flag that had “We Bleed Blue”. Enraged by this, the former batsman asked fans to stop this sort of madness. In the live telecast, he said: No matter how big a fan you are, do not deface the National Flag. That is how it has been, that is how it should remain.

Off the late, the fans have been going all out in displaying their favouritism for their nation's team. Any decoration or defacement on India's National Flag is an offence according to the “Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971”. However, the fans will be spared as they are on foreign soil. If they did the same in India, the fans would be eligible for a jail term.

Oval Test - Final day short recap 

It was a grappling match at the Kia Oval. England had forged a 100-run partnership for the first wicket. However, the wickets at regular intervals helped India’s cause. In the post-lunch session, Jasprit Bumrah picked the wickets of Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow that changed the course of the game. Once the ball started to reverse, there was no one stopping the Indian bowling attack. The pace battery did not stop and helped the team to seal the victory.

Image credits: PTI