India head coach Gautam Gambhir took a brutal jibe at Sunil Gavaskar without mentioning the cricketing icon's name while speaking at the ABP News ‘India At 2047’ Summit on Tuesday. Gambhir took a dig at Gavaskar for his remark in his column for Sportstar, where he wondered if the current head coach would follow his predecessor Rahul Dravid's footsteps in regards to Champions Trophy prize money.
The BCCI had announced a prize money of Rs 58 crore for the team after the successful triumph in the ICC Champions Trophy held earlier this year in Pakistan and UAE. Taking note of the same, Gavaskar in his column questioned if Gambhir, like Dravid, would refuse to take more amount than the other members of the support staff.
Dravid had refused to take the extra Rs 2.5 crore awarded by the BCCI after India's successful campaign at the T20 World Cup in 2024, which was also his final stint as the head coach. He instead opted for an equal share as the rest of his support staff. This had led to Gavaskar questioning: ‘Is Dravid not a good role model?’
When asked to share light on his coaching stint with the national team, Gambhir launched a scathing attack at the commentators, who have been critical of his tenure. Gambhir has so far enjoyed a mixed tenure with the team absolutely crashing in the red-ball format but have won one ICC Trophy in limited overs cricket.
“When I took up this job of being the head coach of 140 crore Indians, I knew that you get judged every day on the performance of the team, there will always be criticism, there will always be appreciation. And it will never happen that the graph goes up in the same way,” said Gambhir.
“There will always be ups and downs, which I was very well aware of. And it hasn't changed. And I'm absolutely fine with it because my job is to make the country proud with all the players, and that is going to stay till the last day of my coaching career. It's just been 8 months. Just 8 months. And as I told you before, if the results don't come, I'm absolutely fine with criticism,” he added.
However, without mentioning Gavaskar's name, Gambhir also reflected his thoughts on his remarks on the Champions Trophy prize money. “It's people's job to criticise me, and they should criticise. But there are some people who have been sitting in the commentary box for 20-25 years. They questioned everything I did. They think that Indian cricket is their property. Unfortunately, Indian cricket is not someone's property. It is the identity of 140 crore Indians and it will remain that way. They questioned my coaching, my records, my concussions and even my prize money,” said Gambhir.
“The prize money that I got in the Champions Trophy. I don't need to tell this country where I left the money and where I invested it. But this country should know that such people have been working in the country as NRIs for so many years. They earn money from the country and take it abroad. I don't do security checks or immigration at 11:55.
“Those who only have to spend 1 day, 180 days. I am an Indian, and I will remain an Indian till my last breath. I will not become an NRI to save tax. People who live in glass houses shouldn't be throwing stones at other people's homes,” he added.
Gambhir to critics
The head coach also mentioned he is not answerable to how experts react on commentary box. “I want to be a coach. And I don't have any responsibility towards them. I want to be a coach for that 10 or 12-year-old kid who comes to watch the match in the sun and sits for 6 or 7 hours. If he can go back happily. If we can send him back happily, that is my responsibility,” said Gambhir.
“Who says what in the commentary box, who says what on YouTube, who says what on the broadcaster, what the media says, that is not my job. My job is not to prove them wrong, or prove them right,” he added.
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