Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has highlighted the long-standing imbalance in India and Pakistan’s approach to sporting and cultural exchanges. Gavaskar said Pakistan cannot still expect India to always be the first to extend an invitation when it rarely returns the gesture.
In an exclusive interview with India Today Gavaskar pointed out that India has historically opened its doors to Pakistani participationwhether through the IPL or the broadcast panels, while Pakistan rarely reciprocated the same warmth.
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“Well, we have. We started in 2008 and we had Pakistani players in the IPL. I think almost every franchise had a Pakistani player. We also had Pakistani commentators. Pakistan always wants India to invite them, but we never saw that in return, even before the relationship reached where it is today. There was almost nothing,” Gavaskar said.
“How many of our singers, how many of our film stars are invited to act in Pakistani films? We always make the first move. We are the ones who always reach out. When we talk about bullying and all that, we don’t bully anyone. We just mind our own business,” he added.
Why is the IND vs PAK match facing the threat of boycott?
Gavaskar’s remarks come amid growing controversy surrounding Pakistan’s decision to boycott their T20 World Cup 2026 group stage encounter against India, scheduled for February 15 in Colombo. Gavaskar constantly criticized the movesuggesting that it is driven by politics rather than sport.
Pakistan announced days before the tournament that while he will participate in the FIFA World Cup, he will not play against India, citing “solidarity with Bangladesh” after the ICC replaced Bangladesh with Scotland.
The ICC reacted strongly, warning that selective participation undermined the fundamental principles of the global tournament. Since the India-Pakistan match is considered to be cricket’s biggest commercial draw, its eventual absence could result in heavy losses for broadcasters and sponsors.
What are the tensions between India and Pakistan?
Relations between the two nations have been strained since the Pahalgam terror attack, with bilateral cricket suspended for more than a decade and Pakistani players continuing to remain absent from the IPL ecosystem. Apart from cricket, Pakistani actors and singers are also banned from being associated with Indian projects.
Ironically, Gavaskar himself was recently part of ‘The DP World Dressing Room’ during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, a show anchored by Pakistan anchor Fakhr-e-Alam and featuring greats like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Misbah-ul-Haq and Ajay Jadeja.
Gavaskar was also previously invited to the swearing-in ceremony of former Pakistan captain and Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2018, though he later declined the invitation.
To start the World Cup, India will face the USA in Mumbai, while Pakistan will take on the Netherlands in Colombo. Still, uncertainty still hangs over whether the sport’s most watched rivalry will actually take place on February 15.
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Issued by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
February 7, 2026
