The Gavaskar article on the BBC sport website is a disgrace to cricket on both political and official grounds.
Gavaskar quotes “Although belated the realisation that the fees that they pay to the Pakistani player, who then pays income tax to their government which buys arms and weapons, indirectly contributes to the death of Indian soldiers and civilians is making Indian entities refrain from even considering having Pakistan artistes and sportspersons”.
I believe this quote is one of the worst that I have heard in the time that I have been associated with cricket. The Hundred is supposed to be a competition for all people from all backgrounds. Cricket is expanding as a global game, the exclusion of Pakistani players will not help this.
The fact that Afghan players such as Rashid Khan are still being contracted by the IPL and Indian owned Hundred sides directly funds their war against Pakistan. This is exactly the same issue that Mr Gavaskar is being so vocal about and directly contradicts and undermines his comment.
Conversely how many Indian players have been picked to play within these competitions, and will their income tax be used to fund the Indian side of the war? This is a double standard to say the least.
I respect Mr Gavaskar as a player but his comments are short-sighted, out of touch, harmful to the modern game, and are not fostering good sporting relations.
