IPL has helped curb nastiness in cricket: Gavaskar

Mumbai:

Former captain Sunil Gavaskar on Wednesday said that the Indian Premier League has helped subdue nastiness in cricket and brought goodwill among players all over the world.

"During our times, there used to be intense rivalry as every player used to play to win. But the IPL has brought players from different countries together creating a good rapport among them," Gavaskar told reporters here.

Gavaskar was here to launch a book 'Portraits of the Game II' written by Shyam Bhatia.

'Portraits of the Game II' is a compilation of interviews of the best cricketers between 2003-07 including Brett Lee, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Shoaib Akhtar, Andrew Symonds and Andrew Flintoff, Bhatia said.

In the interviews, the cricketers have recalled magic moments of their career, he said.

The book is a sequel to ''Portraits of the Game I' which captured the best moments of legendary cricketers from 1975-2003.

Proceedings collected from the sale of book from a corporate house will be used to distribute cricket kits among underprivileged children who have a passion for the game, Bhatia added.