Ponting questions Gavaskar's sportsmanship

In an unusually personal attack, Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting today questioned the sportsmanship of batting legend Sunil Gavaskar and ridiculed the Indian team's performance in recent years.

Provoked by Gavaskar's comment that Australia were an "unpopular team" because of their on-field behaviour, Ponting told Australian journalists in the West Indies "we all know the way he played his cricket, don't we? If he is talking about us, what about the way India have played their cricket over the last few years?

Ponting said it was natural that Australia's domination for more than a decade invited a variety of criticism while other teams and captains like Gavaskar were always smarted from their defeats.

"I don't know if there are too many popular winners. If you are really dominating teams for a long period of time, I don't think you end up having too many supporters around the place," the Aussie skipper said.

"I don't mind if 'Mr Perfect' comes out and goes on about our team. I know we are all not perfect. We are not going to keep everyone happy 100% of the time.

Mentioning India's miserable Test record last year when they won just three of their 12 Tests, Ponting said Gavaskar would do well to look at his own team whose development programme he has been part of at various levels.

"I know who I would rather be going to watch. Have a look at how many Test matches they have won," he said.