Melbourne: Mark Waugh stoked a dying fire by lashing out at Sunil Gavaskar in his column for a Sydney newspaper.

He said before criticising the Aussies, the Indian legend should take note of the way subcontinental players “push the rules”.

“The Australian teams I played for, and those I’ve watched since retiring, play hard but fair. They play within the rules while other teams, especially those from the subcontinent, don’t mind pushing the rules,” Mark wrote.

“I cite such things as their preparedness to call for runners when maybe the batsman doesn’t warrant one, or by fielding specialist fieldsmen as substitutes, as not being in the spirit of the game. And then there are examples of ball tampering,” the former opener wrote.

Mark, however, admitted that the Aussies do “talk” to their rivals onfield, but maintained that they have never gone overboard.

“The difference between many teams is that Australia, South Africa and the Black Caps want to win as a team, so they play hard, whereas players from the subcontinent appear happy to play for individual performances, though with Tom Moody as their coach the Sri Lankans are developing some Aussie-style confidence.”

He also rejected Gavaskar’s criticism that the Aussies were an arrogant lot, and said far from being snobs, Ricky Ponting’s men were a confident unit, who played the game in the right spirit. “I can’t even consider suggestions the Australian team is arrogant.”

Mark said Gavaskar should take a walk down memory lane and recall his own actions as captain of the Indian team before commenting on the behaviour of the Aussies.

“Gavaskar, who seems to be trying to establish himself as the game’s custodian of righteousness, has little credibility in regard to onfield behaviour. In 1981, during the MCG Test, he used his position as captain to make his fellow-opener follow him off the pitch as a form of protest for what he considered an unfair lbw decision.”

He felt that instead of criticising the Australians, Gavaskar should focus on improving the Indian team. “He’d be better off using his energy to help improve the Indian team. But maybe it is easier to slag off the Aussies.” (PTI)