NEW DELHI (TIP): Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar on November 20 expressed surprise at the “fabricated stories” about him questioning N Srinivasan’s silence in the match-fixing scandal while reacting to the Mudgal Committee report. Gavaskar was quoted in media reports as having said in Melbourne that Srinivasan needs to explain why he didn’t act against players if he knew their involvement in match-fixing, but the former captain stated that the report was not “based on what has actually been said”. “It was a memorable evening and the euphoria was still there next morning till I was jolted by totally erroneous headlines attributed to me about my reactions to Justice Mudgal report.

I spoke to several channels about significance and honour of the evening and even accommodated questions on just released Justice Mudgal report, though it had nothing to do with the event at the MCG,” Gavaskar said. Gavaskar was in Australia at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend a special reception at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which was hosted by his Australian counterpart Tony Abbot. “To wake up the next day to read fabricated headlines and stories was galling indeed. I did express my views that there should be zero tolerance with those involved in matchfixing. I do understand the need for sensational headlines and stories to attract eyeballs but surely they should be based on what has actually been said. It spoilt what had been an extremely memorable three days Down Under,” he said.