ECB has recalled its T20 World Cup bound players for a Pakistan T20Is leaving their franchises in lurch.
Gavaskar’s comments have come after the ECB announced their World Cup squad earlier this month, adding that those picked for the T20 showpiece must return before the series gets underway on May 22. The league stage of IPL 2024 will end on May 19 and the playoffs get underway from May 21.
This means a host of IPL franchises might be without their star players in the most crucial stage of the tournament. This includes Rajasthan Royals (Jos Buttler), Kolkata Knight Riders (Phil Salt), and Moeen Ali.
Gavaskar stated that if overseas players aren’t ready to commit to a full IPL season, then there should be salary cuts for them. He even said that the respective boards must be penalized as well.
He supports players prioritizing country but if there is an agreement for their availability for an entire IPL season, then it’s unfair on their part to backtrack later on.
“I am all for players choosing country before anything else but having assured various franchises about their availability for the full season, if they pull out now, it will be letting down the franchises which probably pay them more money in one IPL season which they don’t earn in a few seasons with their country.
The franchises should not only be allowed to deduct a substantial amount from the fee that the player was bought for but also not give the Board, to which the player belongs, the stated 10 percent commission of the fee that each player gets,” Gavaskar wrote in Mid-day.
Gavaskar claims that the foreign boards getting commission from a T20 league is unique to IPL.
“If the Board has gone back on its assurance they need to be penalized too. By the way, this 10 percent commission to the Boards happens only in the IPL and nowhere else. Does the BCCI get any thanks for its generosity? Ha ha ha. No way,” he wrote.