"Don’t interfere in our cricket and tell us what to do"- Sunil Gavaskar's stern warning to 'old powers' criticizing IPL
Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar is livid with the English and Australian cricket boards, for criticizing the IPL.
Many from these 'old powers' (the traditional cricketing boards) have blamed the IPL for damaging the cricketing calendar. The criticism came after it was announced that the IPL will have a two-and-a-half-month window every year for the 2023-2027 cycle. Some owners of these IPL franchises also have stakes in the T20 Leagues that will begin in the UAE and South Africa.
In his column for Sportstar, Sunil Gavaskar claimed that India had the complete right to have a separate window for their premier T20 league and that it's not in anyone's business to question them on that. He said:
"By all means, look after your cricket interests but hey please don’t interfere in our cricket and tell us what to do. We will look after our interests and do it better than what you tell us to do. The moment the news about the South African T20 league and the UAE T20 league came out, the ‘old powers’ started squirming and got their apologists to have a go at the IPL."
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Leagues like The Hundred and the BBL were set to take place in a window where their respective contracted players weren't going to play international cricket. However, Gavaskar believes the boards are now afraid that their own players might prefer to play in the T20 Leagues of UAE and South Africa. He added:
"The Australians, too, have scheduled their Big Bash when their contracted players will be available to play. But it’s worrying them that the UAE and the South African T20 leagues are scheduled around the same time and there’s the danger of some of their players opting to play there instead of the Big Bash."
BBL commitment is 55 days and pays probably half as much as UAE T20 for 36 days.
A forced International retirement of a player like David Warner will be bad & have ripple effects for CA & other boards. Surest way to make NOCs irrelevant! twitter.com/danbrettig/sta…
Sunil Gavaskar on India's rise as a global cricketing power
Sunil Gavaskar also shed light on how a few decades ago, it was the Indian team who had to suffer to get regular tours of Australia and England. But now, the 73-year-old claims, everyone has realized what kind of a superpower India has become in cricket and what kind of money it brings in with them. He stated:
"Remember the times when India as a team was not attractive as far as gate money was concerned. The Indian teams would have a gap of years between tours to the ‘old powers’ shores. Now these same old powers want India to come to their shores every year because they have understood that the Indian team brings in more moolah than even when they play against each other."
With the windows of the T20 Leagues of UAE and South Africa likely to clash with the BBL, it will be interesting to see which league the players choose to feature in which tournament. Whether the aforementioned boards give their players the NOC to play in these leagues will also be something that only time will tell.