Sunil Gavaskar Drops His First Reaction After Cricket Australia Snubs Him During BGT Trophy Presentation

Sunil Gavaskar, the Indian cricket legend, expressed his disappointment and surprise on Sunday after being snubbed from presenting the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia, despite being present at the venue. Australia had just reclaimed the trophy after a decade, defeating India by six wickets in the fifth and final Test match in Sydney.

Sunil Gavaskar's exclusion from the trophy presentation ceremony was particularly puzzling, given that the trophy is named after him and Australian cricket legend Allan Border. Border was present to hand over the trophy to the Australian team, but Gavaskar was inexplicably left out of the ceremony, leaving him feeling overlooked and disrespected.

Sunil Gavaskar reacts to being ignored by Cricket Australia

Sunil Gavaskar spoke to the media in Sydney, where he appeared to be taken aback by Cricket Australia's decision. Gavaskar said he would have liked to present the trophy to Australia with his “good friend” Allan Border. 

"I certainly would have loved to have been there for the presentation. After all it is the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and it is about Australia and India," Gavaskar was quoted as saying by Code Sports.

"I mean, I am here on the ground. To me it should not matter that Australia won when it comes to the presentation. They played better cricket so they won. That's fine.

"Just because I am an Indian. I would have been happy to present the trophy with my good friend Allan Border," he added.

Had the Indian team won the trophy, Gavaskar would have been invited to present it to the victorious side.

Cricket Australia (CA) later confirmed that Gavaskar was aware he would have presented the award to Indian captain Jasprit Bumrah if the tourists had won the Sydney Test and retained the trophy.

"We acknowledge it would have been preferable if both Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar had been asked to go on stage," a CA spokesperson said in a statement.

Both India and Australia have been competing for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy since 1996-1997 and the rivalry has grown to become one of the biggest in Test cricket.

The five-match series that Australia won drew record crowds at multiple venues and broke an 87-year-old attendance record at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last week. 

(With PTI inputs)