IPL

I feel sorry about the disparity shown to domestic players who don’t play in IPL: Sunil Gavaskar

By: Express Web Desk |Published On: May 17, 2017 5:14 Pm

Sunil Gavaskar suggested that the boards need to take care of the players in order to attract the fans during the matches. (Source: Express Photo)

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar while talking to NDTV has spoken about the issue that Cricket Australia and the players are facing.

“First and foremost tell who doesn’t want more. Whatever you are earning, I think if you can get more and you feel you deserve more, you are definitely going to ask for it so I don’t blame the Australian players for asking for more at all. I think what they have done, they have looked at possible revenues coming in and therefore, decided that they should be getting next percentage of that revenue. And clearly, they have done their calculation and I think it’s a matter of sitting down across the negotiation table and trying to come to a percentage share which both the parties will be happy with, he said.

When asked about CA trying to tell Australian players to leave the Indian Premier League, Gavaskar suggested that it is the international media that tries to bring down the cash-rich league.

“I don’t think that was the issue when t he negotiations broke down. I think the negotiations broke down well before the supposed approach came from Cricket Australia, one is not even sure that approach has come through or it is just some kite flying done. Look there has always been certain section of the international media that has tried to bring IPL down. So it could just be one of those kites being flown just to suggest that players will be given that much more to come over here. Having said that I think what happens with the IPL is a lot of the players in 45 days of cricket much more than what would they get for 2 or 3 seasons of their domestic cricket. So why would they give up something lucrative as playing in the IPL. And agree to a figure which might not be what they would get from the IPL,”Gavaskar added.

Gavaskar also talked about the kind of disparity that is shown to the players who are only the part of India’s domestic season and don’t play the Indian Premier League.

“Well I think first and foremost, administrators have to realise that the most important in this entire cog and this wheel are the players, the playing fraternity. But for the players, but for the fraternity, the kind of cricket that they play, the money simply would not be there and the players need to be compensated for sure. What I would however, like is that it’s just not the international players that get the compensation, in the Indian context particularly, I feel very sorry for the Indian domestic players who don’t play in the IPL because they play some 81 days of domestic cricket. If there is a player who plays all 81 days of domestic cricket which means all the Ranji Trophy matches, including the finals, the Duleep Trophy, the Vijay Hazare trophy, the Mushtaq Ali Trophy, if he is going to get 35-40 lakhs of rupees and some unknown guy who has been seen in some corner and he has bowled well or he has batted well and he ends up getting 3.5-4 cr to play 14 days or if his team is into finals then 16 days cricket, I think that is completely unfair, totally unexpectable as far as I’m concerned. So there is nothing wrong in the Indian players asking for more money because there are the ones who are bringing in the money. But I would at the same time the guys who are going to make the decision must make sure that there is no disparity between the Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and the IPL. If it is needed that the uncapped player, the unknown player, there has to be a cap on how much he can get. But I don’t want to see that disparity where the Ranji Trophy player feels an orphan. He feels that he is the orphan of the Indian cricket. He slogs day in and day out for 80-odd days, and he gets not even fraction of some guy who is lucky because of the auction who get 3-4 cr. I think that disparity need to be looked at more than anything else,”the former Indian skipper said.

When asked about the non-contracted Indian players not taking part in the foreign T20 leagues, Gavaskar suggested that it’s only Caribbean premier League in which the Indian players can take part in. Apart from that all other leagues clash with the Indian domestic season.
That’s a completely different aspect. I’m talking about domestic cricket. Yes, maybe players who are not contracted to the BCCI, should be given the permission to play. They can only play the Caribbean league, they can’t play the BBL because it clashes with the Indian domestic season. They can only play Caribbean league. So, that’s the only league where maybe the top 30 players who are contracted to BCCI may not be allowed to play but the others can go and play. But I am talking about this disparity between the Ranji players and those whose names you have not heard, who suddenly come in. You tell me in this years IPL, in previous ÍPL, how many have justified the fraction of the amount that has been spent on them. Some scout sees them somewhere and he says this guy is going to be a magical winner for us, it doesn’t happen because what he has seen is in some club level tournament. IPL is where international players are also playing, India’s best players are playing. So it is not going to be easy for those guys who might have impressed you in a local or a gully game to replicate that success. It’s only a few who can do that and therefor, that is the thing that should be looked at, whether you want to allow the Indian players to go and play in the other leagues. Yes that can be something that can be looked at for sure but every other league clashes with Indian domestic season, they won’t be allowed to do that,”suggested the former right-handed Indian batsman.

Gavaskar was later asked about the fact that whether the international cricket was moving towards some threat.

“The Boards will then realise that the fans are not coming to watch the matches. If best players are not there, the fans are not going to come and watch the matches. The fans are not going to tune in on television either. The players are the vital cog in this wheel. You must not pamper players, you must at least be fair to them. So here what Australian and Indian players are asking for, you might say that this is little too much, I would say that yes if it is too much then come to a situation where you come to an agreement. I would also like to Indian board to look at some of the elderly players, past players, particularly those who are over 75 and 80 years old. Though who are struggling, health-wise they are not in a great shape, great space, their medical should be taken care of. Every time a current Indian player gets injured, he goes for treatment overseas as if Indian medical treatment systems are not good. BCCI pays everything for him, maybe for his spouse, everything he is paid for so why not extend the same facility for those who are above 75-80. Come to a decision for those who are actually struggling, maybe increase the monthly pension to those who are above 75-80. And give them medical facility, every time they need medical facilities, look after their medical facilities because it’s what they did in the past in the 1930s, 1940-50s, 1960s, is the reason today Indian cricket is in the state that it is in because they were the one helped sustained the interest of the fans,”he told.