Basseterre: Glenn McGrath and Brad Hodge joined the chorus in slamming Sunil Gavaskar for linking Australian behaviour with the death of David Hookes, saying the Indian great’s remarks could “damage his relationship” with Australian cricket.

“It is very disrespectful. Sunny was an amazing cricketer, but I think this time he’s gone beyond,” McGrath said.

Gavaskar recently described the Australians as “unpopular winners” because of their “awful” on-field behaviour.

After skipper Ricky Ponting shot back and defended his team, Gavaskar stuck to his guns and cited the death of former Test batsman Hookes outside a Melbourne bar to illustrate his point.

McGrath said: “Fair enough, if that’s what he thinks, he’s allowed to comment on the team. But I think when you start bringing Hookes into it, that’s crossing the line.”

McGrath, known for his use of abusive language on the field to unsettle batsmen and for being engaged in an ugly verbal duel with Ramnaresh Sarwan in Antigua in 2003, said that Gavaskar’s outburst could damage his relationship with Australian cricket.

“I think potentially it could be, we’ll wait and see. The comments in themselves are very disappointing when he’s mentioning Hookes and you really feel for Hookesy’s family,” McGrath was quoted as saying in the media.

McGrath also felt Gavaskar could be playing a mental game to have a crack at the tough Aussies.

“I think with it being the World Cup, Sunny sees Australia as the main threat to beat India and he’s trying to put us off our game,” McGrath said.

Defending his team’s behaviour, McGrath said, “I’ve seen other teams do exactly what we have. I don’t think the Australians are any worse than any other teams.

“It’s fine to say about us, but at the end of the day I think the Indian team does it as well as every other team,” he said.

McGrath’s teammate Hodge also sounded upset about Gavaskar dragging in his former coach’s name into the matter.

“I’m pretty disappointed about comments made about my former coach Hookes. That’s all I am going to say about it,” Hodge said.