"Charan Dho Ke Pee Lunga": Sunil Gavaskar Earns Huge Praise From Ex-India Star

Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra heaped praises on India legend Sunil Gavaskar's love for the game and his dedication to work. Chopra cited an example from the Indian Premier League 2020 and India's subsequent tour of Australia to talk about Gavaskar's exemplary working style. The IPL that year was postponed to September-November in the United Arab Emirates due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Strict protocols were put in place to ensure the players and all other members involved in the tournament stayed safe. Around a month after the IPL sesaon, India played the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, and Chopra denied the offer to do commentary for the series due to tight COVID-19 guidelines, but he revealed that Gavaskar happily went Down Under for the series.

"His commentary is at a different level. Main toh charan dho ke pee lunga aapke (I will wash your feet and drink the water). I have not even played one-tenth of the matches you played, and my broadcasting career will also be in a similar ratio compared to his, but there are some things that I say I could not do," said Aakash Chopra on The Raunac Podcast.

"When the IPL was taking place in Dubai, we were all in the bio-bubble. After that, India was touring Australia. I too got an offer for commentary for the tour. I denied the offer as we had to go through a hard 15-day quarantine. It was such a hard quarantine that if you closed the door of your room, they even took the key with them. You could not walk out of the room. Somebody would knock on your door and leave the food on a plastic plate. Eat it and put the plate outside, and that is it. After that, we had a Border-Gavaskar Trophy of four matches, which is a good six weeks. I was already staying in Dubai for the IPL, so I denied this offer. I put my hands up. Sunny ji did even that. I asked him, 'Sir, how could you do this?' He replied, 'It's okay. I enjoy doing this.' That is absolutely hats off. I can't think that I could do so much," he added.

Topics mentioned in this article

Cricket India Cricket Team Aakash Chopra Sunil Gavaskar