Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has drawn a sharp line between dominance on the field and what he says is created by outrage as he reacted to former England captain Nasser Hussain’s remarks amid the Pakistan boycott row. Without directly naming Hussain, Gavaskar took aim at what he described as “jaundice” from sections of cricket’s old powers after Pakistan threatened to boycott their World T20 clash against India.
“There are some others, especially from the old powers, for whom India, which has replaced them as the powerhouse in the world game, has never fared well,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar. “They were quick to join the clamor, asking whether if India chose not to play a country, the ICC would accept their position or throw them out of the tournament.”
Hussain, speaking on Sky Sports, asked The International Cricket Council and India’s influence during the ongoing dispute. He said he admired Bangladesh for “sticking to their guns” in support of Mustafizur Rahman and accused the ICC of hypocrisy for not complying with Bangladesh’s demand to relocate their matches. Hussain suggested that if India made a similar request, it would be accepted. He also urged the BCCI to recognize the “responsibility” that comes with its financial strength and to promote a “fairer” game.
Gavaskar responded by pointing out India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan for last year’s Champions Trophy, a decision he said was announced well before the draw and venues were finalised.
“India said they would not go to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy last year and the ICC arranged their matches in a neutral country, the United Arab Emirates. However, India announced their intention not to play in Pakistan long before the draw was made and the venues were decided. Every sensible person in the world knows that no government in India will allow its cricketers to go to Pakistan.”
He also cited the 2003 World Cup, when England refused to play in Zimbabwe in protest against Robert Mugabe’s regime, as a precedent.
“At the 2003 World Cup, England refused to play in Zimbabwe, maybe because they didn’t like the face of then President Robert Mugabe announcing his policies. What a silly excuse. There was no security threat or anything, yet they chose to stay away and lose their points. Did the ICC do anything? No. Because at that stage the English and Australians put them on board,” he wrote on board, he and others to rule them.
Gavaskar said the criticism leveled at the BCCI ignored the wider dynamics of the ICC Council vote.
“The hypocrisy is astounding, as it is now. Even their representative in the ICC voted against Bangladesh. Yet the blame lies solely with the BCCI as a bully,” Gavaskar wrote, referring to a vote in which, in addition to Pakistan and Bangladesh, member councils opposed shifting Bangladesh’s matches to Sri Lanka as demanded by the Litton Das-led party.
VAIBHAV’S DOMINANT GOSSIP AT ICC
To make his point, Gavaskar turned to cricket action. In the U-19 World Cup final last week, 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi produced one of the most remarkable innings in the history of the tournament. Suryavanshi smashed 175 off 80 balls, the highest individual score in an Under-19 World Cup final, as India piled up 411. England replied with 311, but the young Indian’s attack effectively decided the match.
“In the just-concluded ICC U-19 World Cup final, Vaibhav Suryavanshi smashed 175 off just 80 balls against England and single-handedly took the game away from his opponents. To England’s credit, they responded well and also got to 311 in response to the Indian colts’ 411.
What young Suryavanshi did is bullying, and not the made-up kind that some people see with jaundice.” By calling out Suryavanshi’s knock, Gavaskar sought to separate what he sees as genuine dominance from allegations made in the current political and administrative debate, and singled out the teenage bat as the only real prime example of bullying.
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Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
February 9, 2026
