Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Rajeev Shukla criticized Cricket Australia for not inviting former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar to the awards ceremony of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after the Sydney Test. This trophy is named after Sunil Gavaskar, but when Australia won the series 3-1, only Allan Border was called to present the trophy to the winning team, while Gavaskar was present on the field at the same time.
Australia won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after a gap of 10 years. After winning the Test in Sydney, the trophy was handed over to the Australian team by Allan Border, while Sunil Gavaskar was ignored at the important ceremony. However, all this was already decided. Had India won the Sydney Test, the trophy would have been presented by Sunil Gavaskar, but only Border was included in the presentation after Australia’s victory.
Rajiv Shukla wrote on his official X account, “I completely agree with Neil (Australian journalist). This happened when Gavaskar was present in the stadium. The trophy is in his name and he was not invited. Who knows after four years whether both will be here or not? Them being together is a rare sight.”
Australian journalist Neil Mitchell wrote, “Sunil Gavaskar is a wonderful person. Very humble for a cricket genius. After all, how can Cricket Australia stop him from presenting the trophy with AB (Allan Border)? This is a serious and shameful mistake.”
Sunil Gavaskar also gave a statement on this matter. “I was told just before the Test started that this would be the situation,” he said on ABC Sport. If India does not win or draw the series, I will not be needed. I’m not hurt, but I’m just a little surprised. This is the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, we both should have been there.
