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Josh Inglis in action against Lucknow Super Giants. (Credit: PBKS/Instagram)
Batting great Sunil Gavaskar has criticised foreign players who make themselves available for only part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season rather than its entire duration. Gavaskar minced no words, stating that if a player does not show respect to the IPL by making himself available for the full tournament, he should not even be included in the auction.
“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 wrote in his column for Mid-Day.
“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,” he added.
Recently, Australian wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis reportedly confirmed that his availability for the IPL will be limited due to his wedding. Inglis, who was part of the Punjab Kings in IPL 2025, was released ahead of the auction, with head coach Ricky Ponting citing Inglis’ availability as the main reason for his release. He has now registered for the IPL 2026 auction, listing himself in the ₹2 crore price bracket.
Gavaskar also commented on auction trends, writing: “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 added, “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.”
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