Top News

Sunil Gavaskar Appeal To BCCI: Kolkata Knight Riders seem to be in trouble right now, despite not winning a single match so far, no one is criticizing the team’s strategy, player selection or auction strategy. No one is asking why KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane decided to bat first in a match in which there was every possibility of rain interference. Instead everyone is targeting Cameron Green.

How fair is the criticism of Cameron Green?

This Australian all-rounder had not requested any franchise to give him millions of dollars. He had simply registered himself at a base price of Rs 2 crore. This was similar to what many domestic and foreign players had done. Still, he is being criticized the most. Due to the huge price tag of Rs 25.20 crore it received, it is facing severe criticism, most of which is baseless.

One can see that Green was not in very good form before coming into the Indian Premier League 2026. Questions are being raised about his place in the Australian team in all formats. His performance in the Ashes and T20 World Cup was not as expected. He is known as an all-rounder, but neither his batting nor his bowling is what was expected 4-5 years ago.

Why so much ruckus about Green’s bowling?

However, all the problems of KKR are somehow being blamed on its bowling. It is true that his batting has not been good: he got out early twice and was run out once. But his bowling was never expected to turn the match. KKR head coach Abhishek Nair had indicated that Green would replace Andre Russell, although his role would be slightly different.

But it is difficult to understand how this will happen. Green has bowled a total of 113.4 overs in 73 matches of his T20 career. This means that on an average he has bowled only 1.5 overs in every match. Whereas Russell has bowled approximately 1,500 overs in 590 matches. For KKR he has bowled 292 overs in 139 matches. Green is not a complete all-rounder like Russell. At least not right now.

Important request to BCCI

Baseless criticism can still be understood. But former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has suggested that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) set an example and ban Green and other players like him who are unable to perform for which they were selected. Players like Cooper Connolly of Punjab Kings and Mitchell Marsh of Lucknow Super Giants have also not been allowed by Cricket Australia to bowl like Green. Gavaskar considers this very wrong.

Sunil Gavaskar appealed for the ban

A few days ago, Gavaskar had suggested that the ban period on players who withdraw from the IPL for wrong reasons should be extended; For this he gave the example of Ben Duckett. Now Gavaskar wants BCCI to consider banning players like Green, who come to the IPL without proper preparation. It doesn’t matter to him that Cricket Australia had already informed the franchises about Green, Connolly or Marsh. The IPL gives its board 10% of the Australian players’ auction earnings, and Gavaskar believes this amount is enough to step back and let the franchises take their own decisions.

Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his column for ‘Sportstar’, ‘A bowler can bowl only 4 overs in a match… then who is stopping him from doing so in the match? It is absolutely right that a player who is not completely fit from day one should step down on his own and the franchise should be given a chance to choose another player. Saying that the franchise was ‘informed in advance’ is not a very good excuse. Perhaps BCCI should now intervene in this matter and make similar rules for those players who are not available from the very first match. Can’t franchises expect players to be fully committed?

The post Will BCCI learn a lesson from Cameron Green’s case? Demand for a new type of ban on players’ ‘excuses’ in IPL appeared first on obnews.