What Vaibhav did is bullying: Sunil Gavaskar's reply to Nasser Hussain's 'ICC' jibe |

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Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has drawn a sharp line between dominance on the field and what he believes is manufactured outrage off it, as he responded to former England captain Nasser Hussain’s remarks amid the Pakistan boycott controversy. Without naming Hussain directly, Gavaskar took aim at what he described as “jaundiced” reactions from sections of the old cricketing powers after Pakistan threatened to boycott their marquee T20 World Cup clash against India.

“There are some others, especially from the old powers, for whom India replacing them as the power centre in the world game has never gone down well,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar. “They were quick to join the noise and ask whether, if India had decided not to play in a country, the ICC would have accepted their position or thrown them out of the tournament.”

Hussain, speaking on Sky Sports, had questioned the International Cricket Council and India’s influence during the ongoing standoff. He said he admired Bangladesh for “sticking to their guns” in support of Mustafizur Rahman and accused the ICC of hypocrisy for not accommodating Bangladesh’s demand to relocate their matches. Hussain suggested that if India had made a similar request, it would have been accepted. He also called upon the BCCI to recognise the “responsibility” that comes with its financial strength and to encourage a more “equal” game.

Gavaskar responded by pointing to India’s refusal to tour Pakistan for last year’s Champions Trophy, a decision he said was communicated well before the draw and venues were finalised.

“Well, India did say they were not going to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy last year, and the ICC arranged their fixtures in a neutral country, the UAE. India had, however, given notice of their intention not to play in Pakistan long before even the draw was made and the venues were fixed. Every sane person in the world knows there is no way any government in India is going to allow its cricketers to go to Pakistan.”

He also cited the 2003 World Cup as precedent, when England refused to play in Zimbabwe in protest against Robert Mugabe’s regime.

“In the 2003 World Cup, England refused to play in Zimbabwe, perhaps because they did not like the face of the then President Robert Mugabe announcing his policies. What a silly excuse. There was no security threat to them or anything, yet they chose to stay away and forfeit their points. Did the ICC do anything? No. Because at that stage, the English and Australian boards ruled the roost, and the others did not want to upset them,” he wrote.

Gavaskar said the criticism directed at the BCCI ignored the wider voting dynamics within the ICC Board.

“The hypocrisy is striking, just as it is now. Even their representative in the ICC voted against Bangladesh. Still, the blame is only on the BCCI as the bully,” Gavaskar wrote, referring to the vote in which, apart from Pakistan and Bangladesh, member boards opposed moving Bangladesh’s matches to Sri Lanka as requested by the Litton Das-led side.

VAIBHAV’s DOMINANT ICC KNOCK

To explain his point, Gavaskar turned to cricketing action. In the final of the ICC Under-19 World Cup last week, 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi produced one of the most remarkable innings in the tournament’s history. Suryavanshi smashed 175 off 80 balls, the highest individual score in a U19 World Cup final, as India piled up 411. England responded with 311, but the contest had effectively been decided by the young Indian’s assault.

“In the just-concluded final of the ICC Under-19 World Cup, Vaibhav Suryavanshi smashed 175 off only 80 balls against England and single-handedly took the game away from his opponents. To England’s credit, they responded well and also got to 311 in reply to the Indian colts’ 411.

Now, what young Suryavanshi did is bullying and not the imaginary kind that some jaundiced people see.” By invoking Suryavanshi’s knock, Gavaskar sought to separate what he sees as genuine dominance from accusations levelled in the current political and administrative debate, framing the teenager’s bat as the only real example of bullying on display.

– Ends

Published By:

Saurabh Kumar

Published On:

Feb 9, 2026

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