Legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar on Wednesday rebuked former England captain Nasser Hussain for his assertion that Indian teams of the previous eras were easily “bullied” unlike the current side under Virat Kohli.

The on-air debate on Sony Six was over a column that Hussain wrote in a British newspaper.

“You said this India will not be bullied as perhaps the previous generations would be… (I) belonging to a previous generation, could you perhaps enlighten which generation? And what is the exact meaning of bully?” Gavaskar asked.

“I just think, the Indian side under the aggression of the past, would have said ‘no no no’. But what Kohli has done is to make them go doubly hard.

“I saw a little bit of that in Sourav Ganguly’s side and he started that, Virat is continuing with it... I just don’t think you want to wake this Indian side up,” Hussain replied.

Gavaskar dismissed Hussain’s claims. “But when you say previous generations were bullied, I don’t think so. I’d be very upset if my generation was being talked about as being bullied…

“I don’t think aggression means you have always got to be in the face of the opposition. You can show passion, you can show your commitment towards your team without yelling after the fall of each wicket,” Gavaskar said.