'Taking The Franchise For Granted': Sunil Gavaskar Lashes Out On Foreign Players For Not Respecting Their IPL Contracts

Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, known for expressing his thoughts with full conviction, has called out the foreign players for taking the Indian hospitality for granted.

His comments came in the light of several overseas cricketers refusing to fulfill their Indian Premier League contracts with their respective franchises.

Over the last few days, a number of foreign signings in the IPL have either been ruled out for the whole season or are expected to miss the initial parts of the tournament.

Most notably, Australian pace trio of Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins have all been held back by their apex cricket board for proper workload management ahead of a very busy schedule coming up.

The experienced trio is expected to miss at least the first phase of the tournament, in which all the 10 teams will play 4 matches respectively, starting from March 28.

Hazlewood, Cummins and Starc's unavailability will surely hurt the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Delhi Capitals. The Australians are key pillars for their respective franchises and their absences will affect the team's progress.

Chennai Super Kings' Australian signing Nathan Ellis has also been ruled out after his old hamstring injury aggravated right after the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 concluded.

All-rounder Sam Curran is also among the casualties reported ahead of the season with the Englishman getting ruled out due to a groin issue. Rajasthan Royals have gone on to sign Sri Lanka's Dasun Shanaka as his replacement.

Punjab Kings' Lockie Ferguson will also miss the early parts of the IPL to be with his newborn so, while Kolkata Knight Riders' Matheesha Pathirana is awaiting for a no objection certificate (NOC) from the Sri Lankan board.

Sunil Gavaskar Lashes Out On Those Taking Their IPL Contracts For Granted

All of these injury and fitness concerns right before the start of the cash rich Indian Premier League has instigated Sunil Gavaskar.

His recent column in Sportstar serves as a pointed critique of the relationship between IPL franchises and international cricketers.

"There is also the usual taking the franchise for granted issue with some overseas players, who are not going to be available for non-injury and personal reasons." Gavaskar wrote in his lates column for Sportstar.

The former India captain argues that certain overseas players have developed a sense of entitlement, treating their participation in the league as a matter of personal convenience.

A primary concern raised by Gavaskar is the lack of accountability regarding player availability. He suggests that players often withdraw from the tournament for reasons unrelated to physical injury, taking the franchise for granted.

Furthermore, Gavaskar highlighted the disparity between the Indian way of hospitality and how it is received. He notes that franchises frequently go beyond by financing luxury travel and accommodations for the families of these millionaire players at no extra cost to the athletes themselves.

"The owners of the franchises go out of their way to accommodate their players often paying for families to come and spend time with the players at no cost to the millionaire players, mind you. It’s the Indian way and hospitality, which often is misunderstood as a right by some and who then try to take advantage of the situation."

With just 5 days remaining for the start of the tournament, it will be interesting to see how things pan out between the foreign players and their franchises.

IPL season 19 begins with a clash between reigning champions RCB and Ishan Kishan's SRH on Saturday, March 28 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.