If a player doesn’t show respect to the IPL and make himself available for the full tournament, he shouldn’t even be in the auction: Sunil Gavaskar

Team India great Sunil Gavaskar has criticised foreign players who make themselves available for only a few matches in an IPL season. Australia’s wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis has listed his name for the IPL 2026 auction but has already said that he will be available for only a limited number of matches due to his wedding.

Writing for his column in Mid-Day, Gavaskar said: “There are some players who have made themselves available for a limited period. Frankly, if a player doesn’t show respect to the IPL and make himself available for the full tournament, he shouldn’t even be in the auction.”

He added, “If something other than a national commitment is more important to him, then not one second of the auction should be wasted on him. The IPL is the best T20 league in the world, and anybody taking it lightly should not be considered at all.”

“There is still no salary limit on an uncapped player” - Gavaskar

Gavaskar also shared his views on the auction trends and said, “Look at the initial price at which all those who went on to become great players for India were bought. They were all bought at their base prices and were thus hungry to perform and earn more. Now look at all the uncapped players bought for crores and see where they are now. Maybe there’s a lesson in that somewhere.”

He further wrote: “There is still no salary limit on an uncapped player, and so many young, fairly unknown players will be bought for sums, for playing just 16 days of cricket, that are multiple times higher than what a Ranji Trophy player earns while playing twice as many days, mostly in empty stadiums. The sad part is that most, if not all, of these youngsters bought for huge sums hardly play in the tournament and are lost to the game after a season or two.”

Inglis was part of the IPL 2025 runners-up Punjab Kings (PBKS). In 11 innings. He scored 278 runs, striking at 162.57, including one fifty. But his availability was the main reason behind his release from the squad ahead of the next season, as PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting clearly said when asked about the decision.

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