'Look After Your Cricket, Don't Tell Us What To Do, Don't Interfere': Sunil Gavaskar Tears Apart England, Australia

Sunil Gavaskar, a legendary cricketer from India, blasted the “old powers” England and Australia for accusing the IPL of upsetting the international cricket schedule.

After some IPL franchise owners purchased clubs in the future T20 competitions in South Africa and the UAE, which are anticipated to conflict with the schedules of Australia’s Big Bash League and England’s The Hundred, the criticism of the IPL began to gather traction.

We Will Look After Our Interests And Do It Better Than What You Tell Us To Do: Sunil Gavaskar

Gavaskar cautioned England and Australia to “look after their interest” and forbade them from “interfering” with Indian cricket’s operations. 

“…By all means, look after your cricket interests but hey please don’t interfere in ours and tell us what to do. We will look after our interests and do it better than what you tell us to do,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar. 

Gavaskar referred to the uproar as “amusing” and claimed that England and Australia began “squirming” as soon as they learned about the South African and UAE leagues. 

“It’s been amusing to read that the Indian Premier League is once again seen as a disruptor of the cricketing calendar of other international teams. 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,” he wrote. 

England And Australia Are Concerned About Their Schedule: Sunil Gavaskar

Because the new competitions would conflict with existing T20 leagues, the former India captain said that England and Australia are concerned about the schedule. 

“The England & Wales Cricket Board has created a window for its showpiece event The Hundred when the England team don’t play any international matches. 

“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,” Gavaskar added. 

Situation Has Changed After Cricket Gained Popularity In India: Sunil Gavaskar

Gavaskar, the first player to amass 10,000 Test runs, emphasised how, in the past, Indian teams were not frequently invited, but that situation changed after cricket gained popularity in India. 

“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. The first Indian team toured Australia in 1947/8. Guess when was the next time the Indian team went there?

It was 1967/8. Yes, sir, a good 20 years between the two tours. The next was in 1977/8. England, too, had the Indian team coming down after long gaps – 1936, then 1946. The World War II from 1939 to 1945 could have played a part in this. Indian visited England again in 1952, 1959, and then 1967. 

“It was only after the other cricketing boards finally realised that being invited to the MCC President’s box was not helping them promote their cricket and new administrators, who didn’t have any inferiority complexes, came in that India started getting tours at regular four-year intervals.

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,” Gavaskar said. 

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