Gavaskar not invited to give away trophy

The iconic BorderGavaskar series is on its last leg and in three days — if the Sydney Test goes into the fifth day — the trophy will be given away on January 10. However, Sunil Gavaskar has not yet been invited by Cricket Australia to the presentation ceremony. The former India skipper is here as a commentator, having arrived a day before the Sydney Test began.

Unlike the Indian board which invites former Aussie skipper Allan Border well in advance seeking his presence for the presentation ceremony, CA hasn’t approached Gavaskar, and an invitation hasn’t reached him either, raising uncertainty over his presence at the function. The BCCI has always invited the two greats to give away the prize for which the series is fought, but it is odd that CA hasn’t done that.

To avoid an awkward situation during the presentation ceremony, CA officials tried to reach out to Gavaskar.The top two — CEO James Sutherland and chairman Wally Edwards — could not reach the batting great who was doing commentary at that time.

When asked about it by a leading TV channel from India, Sutherland reacted, “It’s not within our purview to take that decision of inviting Gavaskar, there is a separate team that deals with that. But I imagine since he is around for his commentary assignment, we would speak to him to be present in the ceremony. Let’s see, something will work out, I hope.”