Sunil Gavaskar blasts the question on Indian players participation in World XI series

Former Indian cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar has come down heavily on the questions raised over the absence of Indian players in the Independence Cup. Pakistan successfully hosted World XI for the series of three T20 Internationals at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The stadium was jam packed for all the matches and the atmosphere in the ground was electric.

But ever since the series was being planned, the participation of Indian players was the talking point in the cricketing fraternity. The fans in Pakistan also expressed their displeasure for missing the likes of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni. The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Najam Sethi had also cleared that they had not asked the Indian players for their participation due to the political tussle between the two countries.

Have you seen Indians around in PSL?

Sunil Gavaskar brutally answered the question about the participation of Indian players in the Independence Cup and said that he wasn’t surprised by the fact that none of the Indian players was part of the series.

“I am not surprised that no Indian player is part of the World XI as India has got its season, they are playing their domestic cricket and also preparing for the ODIs against Australia. So it is totally understandable that no Indian player is playing in that game and anybody other than the top 20 players that we have, I don’t think would actually fit into a World XI,” he told NDTV.

The little master pointed out neither the Indian players feature in the PSL nor do the Pakistanis play the IPL, so there was no way the Indians were going to feature in the Independence Cup.

“I don’t think it is something that we should be giving a lot of thought to and when we talk about Indian players, I think when it comes to Pakistan Super League, have you seen any Indians around in the Pakistan Super League while Pakistanis, particularly commentators have been part of the Indian Premier League. So it is something that’s got to be done both ways and not just one-sided,” the legendary Indian batsman stated.

Gavaskar was particularly fumed when he was asked whether the discarded Indian cricketers like Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh or Gautam Gambhir would have been part of the historic series. “But were they picked? Were they asked? So presumably, if they were not asked, how can they go and how can they play. They can’t turn down and say, ‘Please pick me, please pick me.’ That’s the height of desperation,” he concluded.