Sunil Gavaskar was not invited to present the BGT to Australia |Courtesy- IANS/AP
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Sunil Gavaskar was not called on the podium
- Australia won the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy
- BGT is named after Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar
Former Australian captain Michael Clarke criticised Cricket Australia (CA) after major controversy broke out at the end of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) as the Australian cricket governing body did not invite Sunil Gavaskar on the podium to hand the trophy to the victorious Australian cricket team.
For those unversed, BGT is named after Australian and Indian cricket legends Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar. However, only Border was present on the stage as Pat Cummins lifted the trophy after the home team won the elusive prize after a decade.
Gavaskar was not pleased with the incident and voiced his concerns almost immediately after the presentation. While it has been reported that Cricket Australia (CA) planned to call Gavaskar if India won, the Indian cricket legend claimed it was not an issue for him to present the trophy to Australia. The 1983 World Cup winner also stated that he recieved no communication from CA over the issue.
Clarke was not pleased with CA's actions and claimed that both Gavaskar and Border should have presented the trophy. The 2015 World Cup winner claimed that Cricket Australia's (CA) plan to decide who will win the present trophy based on the winner did not make sense.
"I just think Cricket Australia missed a trick. Now I know a lot of people don't know that it was planned before the series started, that if India were to win, Sunil Gavaskar would present the trophy. If Australia were to win, Alan Border would present the trophy. So it wasn't a surprise to those two guys. But to me, it just doesn't make sense. Like, they're both there.
"No matter who won, in my opinion, they both should have walked out, they both should have been on stage, they both should have presented the trophy. I think we're very lucky to have both Allan Border and Sunny Gavaskar in the country commentating at the right time. You don't get that very often. Both legends of the game that the trophy is named are still around and are in the country at the same time. So I just think we missed a trick there. I think it sounds to me that, you know, it obviously affected, it offended Sunny as well, and I can understand why. I think they both should have been on that stage presenting that trophy no matter who won," said Michael Clarke on ESPN's Around The Wicket.
Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Cricket, Sports and around the world.
