3 min readMar 22, 2026 09:20 PM IST
With injuries and brief pull-outs hampering teams just days out from the IPL 2026 season, India batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has lambasted foreign players, who, according to him, have taken the Indian hospitality for granted.
Earlier this week, Cricket Australia held back their veteran seam trio of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood from linking up with their respective franchises for the first set of matches, citing fitness issues and a grinding schedule. Meanwhile, New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson has intimated to the Punjab Kings franchise that he will miss the first half of the season to be with his newborn son.
“There is also the usual taking the franchise for granted issue with some overseas players, who are not going to be available for non-injury and personal reasons,” Gavaskar wrote in his Sportstar column.
“The owners of the franchises go out of their way to accommodate their players often paying for families to come and spend time with the players at no cost to the millionaire players, mind you. It’s the Indian way and hospitality, which often is misunderstood as a right by some and who then try to take advantage of the situation,” remarked Gavaskar.
Gavaskar urged the franchises to resort to stringent measures, including dropping the international players as a warning to prevent overseas cricketers from hampering the build-up and preparations for a team’s title bid.
“We are already hearing about some players who will not be available for a variety of reasons, none of which were informed before they were selected by the franchise. Unless franchise owners start to get tough and drop these players, they will find themselves being hampered in their efforts to win the title. All the planning in forming the squad which they believe can help them win, goes out of the window when players decide to come whenever they want,” remarked Gavaskar.
Besides Gavaskar, former India off-spinner R Ashwin also echoed a similar sentiment with regards to Kolkata Knight Riders’ record-breaking signing of Caneron Green. Green, returning from an injury, was snapped up by KKR for Rs 25.20 crore. As there is uncertainty over whether the tall Aussie will deliver his full quota of overs consistently with the ball, Ashwin said the franchise must have the autonomy to reduce his salary if he did not.
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“There is a question about Cameron Green. Will Cricket Australia allow him to bowl all four overs? That is also a possibility. In this scenario, the Australian board is saying to Green that he can play in the IPL, but Test cricket is very important for us, so you can play only this much of workload,” R Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
“IPL teams also should have an opportunity where if he bowls only two overs, then they should deduct 2 crores,” Ashwin had said on his YouTube channel.
