Sunil Gavaskar: It’s worth checking if the commitments made by both sides were fulfilled during Messi’s visit to Calcutta

In the recently released Hindi film Dhurandhar, there is a scene where the head of India’s intelligence agency says, «Indians are the worst enemies of India, and then Pakistan.» Of course, it’s movie-like dialogue that needs to be viewed in the context of the story unfolding on screen. As someone who has been involved with Indian cricket for over sixty years, starting at school level, I have seen how Indian cricket, due to personal ambitions or grievances, and sometimes even misconceptions and perceived slights, has been dragged through the mud by the Indians and its reputation has been spoiled.

A few days before this piece was written, speculation surfaced that the current broadcast rights holders for ICC cricket would walk away from their contractual obligations and abandon the ICC for the remaining two years of the agreement. There was a flurry of messages until a joint statement from both the ICC and the broadcast rights holder made it clear that all was fine and there was no basis for the claims.

The broadcast rights holder is an Indian company and one of the largest conglomerates in the world, and the current chairman and CEO of the ICC are also Indians. The first version of this speculative story appeared in an Indian publication.

The joint statement made it clear that the speculation was unfounded, but it was not entirely surprising that it involved an Indian trying to cause trouble for his countrymen. We have had 18 years of IPL, each a bigger blockbuster than the last, yet every year, within a week or a fortnight of the start of one of the top five sporting events in the world, we read that viewership has dropped or that advertising is no longer the same as in previous years. Negative stories that resurface every few days during the tournament. Why? What pleasure do these Indians get from belittling an Indian sports company that is the envy of the rest of the world?

Do you ever read stories like that in British newspapers about the English Premier League or Wimbledon or the British Open golf, or even Formula 1? Or in American newspapers about the AFL and the Super Bowl, or in Australian newspapers that there is something wrong with the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne or the New Year’s Test in Sydney or the Australian Open tennis event? In any case, I have not read, heard or seen any speculative or negative stories about the major tournaments in these countries. They do everything they can to project their events as the best in the world. Try arguing with a Brit by comparing Spain’s La Liga to England’s Premier League, or questioning Lord’s as the home of cricket. Look what happens. And here we are, trying to take down Indians who took India to the top just for a few headlines and a few hundred views or followers.

This is not to say that Indian cricket is beyond criticism. Every Indian cricket lover should at least have the right to express honest opinions so that Indian cricket can progress and prosper. But writing speculative and critical pieces purely for eyeballs is damaging Indian cricket, from whose ecosystem we all earn a rupee or two.

Even the recent episode at the Salt Lake Stadium in Calcutta, where Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi made a much shorter appearance than promised, was blamed by everyone except the person who failed to keep his promise. What his arrangement was is not public knowledge, but if he was meant to be at the stadium for an hour, and by leaving well before then and disappointing fans who had paid good money, he and his entourage were the real culprit. Yes, he was surrounded by politicians and so-called VIPs, but there was no security risk to him or his entourage. Should he just walk around the stadium, or do something tangible, like take a penalty? If the latter had been the case, the people around him should have automatically moved and the crowd would have seen their hero do what they came to see.

The other performances went smoothly because agreements were kept. So before blaming fellow Indians in Calcutta, it may be worth checking whether commitments have been fulfilled on both sides.

Otherwise it will be exactly what the head of the intelligence agency says in the film: “we Indians are India’s worst enemies”.

Published on December 15, 2025