Sunil Gavaskar: Stop Being Jealous And Appreciate 'World-Class' IPL

Jammu, August 11: Sunil Gavaskar, the batting legend quantifies that some countries ,"especially England" are jealous of the Indian Premier League which he called a "world class product".

In his fortnightly column which appeared in mid-day on Tuesday, Gavaskar called it the J virus. "Thankfully, it [J virus] is seasonal, starting just before the IPL and ending a couple of weeks after it. It's a virus that is peculiar to Indians but also affects some other countries too, especially England and of course, our western neighbours, who, in any case suffer from the J virus about India 24 hours a day, every day of their lives and have been doing so for over 70 years," Gavaskar.

The India captain-turned-commentator felt that some Indians too unjustifiably slam the T20 extravaganza. "The IPL is a soft target for all affected by the J virus. It is so sad that this J virus affects some Indians to such an extent that they are prepared to bring down a world-class product and truth be told, there aren't too many world-class Indian products as yet," Gavaskar wrote.

He asked, "Have you ever heard a bad word about any of the football leagues in the world? Does anyone in England or Spain or Italy or France or Germany even if they're not football fans, ever say a bad word about their country's football leagues? Why football leagues? Because it's the most followed sport in their countries just like cricket is in India."

In the same column, Gavaskar wondered why home umpires are officiating in the Test matches in the English summer. "The ICC's decision to have two home umpires and home match referee is hard to understand. If around 25 West Indian cricketers and support staff and another 30 from Pakistan can come to England and stay in a bio-secure bubble for more than a month, then what stops another four to six umpires and match referees from other countries to travel and officiate in the series," he pointed out.