Interview with Rohan Gavaskar: “It would be difficult to have an IPL in football”

Rohan Gavaskar might be widely known for his exploits in cricket but the former Bengal Ranji Trophy captain is also a key football administrator. Back in 2007, junior Gavaskar and his friends from the Ashok Piramal Group came together to form Pune FC, and six years on, their club is considered to be the best-run I-League team.

Sportskeeda caught up with Rohan, who is a director and stakeholder at Pune FC, in an exclusive chat, and the former India left-handed batsman revealed that he had always been a big fan of the beautiful game.

“I have always been a big football fan and played a lot of football in school. In fact, everyone in the Piramal family is a big enthusiast of the sport and so we jumped at the opportunity of starting a football club. It has been a wonderful journey since the inception of the club in 2007. I try and attend games whenever I can. I have to put my hand up and say that I haven’t gone as much I would have liked to due to other commitments, but whenever I am in Pune, I try to watch matches at the stadium,” he told Sportskeeda on the sidelines of the re-launch of High Life Sports Management, where the Piramal Group have picked up a majority stake.

On the occasion, five young footballers Biswajit Sardar, Rohan Tamang, Krishanu Santra, Sanchayan Samaddar and Banpynkhrawnen Nongkhlaw were given certificates and scholarships by the sports management group.

Despite being only formed in 2007, Pune FC have been an example for every Indian club to follow as they have a proper youth system in place including their own academy, and yet they have been consistent with the senior team also.

‘PFC’ as they are often called, were runners-up in the I-League last season and it was their best-ever finish in the top flight. Rohan admits that the club soon need to win a major trophy also, but has full faith in their policy of investing more on youth development than their senior team.

Pune FC have won back-to-back Under-20 I-League titles

“Winning major trophies was always our target right from the start and that should be the aim for any team that takes part in any sport and in any tournament. However, we need to have a right balance in our budget and can’t spend entirely on the senior team. Otherwise, there would be no difference between PFC and other clubs.

“We invest a lot on our youth teams and won the U-20 I-League twice in a row. We have a very good youth development program and I am sure that will reap the benefits in the near future,” the 37-year-old stated.

AIFF’s commercial partners IMG-Reliance have proposed to organise an IPL-style football league but Rohan doesn’t believe it would have the same impact as it has had on cricket.

“It would be difficult to have an IPL in football because in cricket you have the very best players of the world playing that tournament. I don’t think that is going to be the case in football because the world’s best players won’t be leaving their clubs to come for a two-month competition. And then, if you bring in retired stars, it doesn’t really have the same impact, does it? Also, we must remember that infrastructure-wise Indian football is lagging behind. So, unless that improves, you can’t have world class players coming and playing here,” he opined.

One of the main reasons why IMG-R are planning to stage an IPL-style tournament is to generate national interest in domestic football. So what according to Rohan can be the way forward if IPL isn’t the solution?

“I wish I knew. I don’t really know the exact answer to that, but maybe if we can find the middle part of the IPL and I-League and implement that. But it’s very important to have something that is beneficial for everyone. I mean Pune FC has only started a few years ago but what about clubs like East Bengal and Mohun Bagan? They are not just football clubs but institutions and they have sustained Indian football for so many years. So you got to keep their interests in mind as well and can’t just push them away,” he added.

Pune FC fan Abhishek Bachchan was at the FPAI Awards

Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan was seen wearing a Pune FC badge on his blazer at last month’s FPAI (Football Players’ Association of India) awards night and Rohan confirmed that junior AB is a big Pune FC fan.

“He is a very dear friend and so unfortunately he doesn’t have much of a choice but to follow Pune FC! But on a serious note, he is one of Pune FC’s biggest supporters because he is a keen follower of football and recently also formed a team to play in a charity match. I didn’t play that game but hopefully I will be available for the next game that Abhishek organises,” Rohan revealed.

We rounded off the interview on a lighter note asking the former KKR player as to why he supports Manchester United whereas his father, the great Sunil Gavaskar, publicly admits being an Arsenal fan.

“He is not really an Arsenal fan. He says that to rile me up. He doesn’t really follow football that much and deep down in his heart he also wishes Man United does well because he knows how much I love them. So he is actually a closet Man United supporter,” the junior Gavaskar concluded.

Maybe Sunny Gavaskar will respond to that and confirm where his loyalty lies in the near future.