Sunil Gavaskar Questions Gautam Gambhir Over Champions Trophy 2025 Reward: "Not A Good Role Model?"

The BCCI announced a cash prize of Rs 58 crore for the Champions Trophy-winning squad with the players and head coach Gautam Gambhir getting Rs 3 crore each. According to BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, assistant coaches and support staff will get Rs 50 lakh each, while BCCI officials will receive Rs 25 lakh each. Legendary India captain Sunil Gavaskar asked whether Gambhir will be following the example of his predecessor - Rahul Dravid - in refusing to take more amount than his support staff. Following India's T20 World Cup 2024 triumph, Dravid opted to take an equal share of the cash reward as the rest of his support staff. However, Gambhir has not made any such statement till now.

"After the ICC T20 World Cup win and the Board announcement of prize money, the then-coach Rahul Dravid, ever the team man, refused to accept more than his fellow members of the coaching staff and, in fact, shared it equally with his colleagues," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

"It's been a fortnight since the BCCI announced the Champions Trophy rewards, but we haven't heard anything from the current coach on whether he will also do a Dravid. Or is it that Dravid, in this instance, is not a good role model?" he added.

Gavaskar went on to praise the BCCI for rewarding the cricketers for their Champions Trophy victory.

"Now, after our boys won the Champions Trophy, the BCCI announced a whopping ₹58 crore for the squad and the support staff and selection committee. In July last year, after the stirring victory in the ICC T20 World Cup, the BCCI announced ₹125 crore for the squad, support staff, and selectors," he wrote.

"This is truly fantastic, as the Board, which is now awash with funds, is showing its appreciation for the efforts put in by everybody and rewarding them generously. The BCCI is also letting the players keep the prize money that the ICC announced for the winners, which is also a good amount each," he added.

Topics mentioned in this article

Sunil Gavaskar Gautam Gambhir Rahul Dravid India Cricket Team ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Cricket