Sunil Gavaskar questions Gautam Gambhir about Champions Trophy prize money: ‘Haven’t heard from him'; namedrops Dravid

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently announced a cash prize of INR 58 crore for the Champions Trophy-winning squad. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar asked whether Gautam Gambhir would follow his predecessor, Rahul Dravid, in refusing to take more amount than the other members of the support staff.

It needs to be mentioned that former head coach Rahul Dravid refused to take the additional INR 2.5 crore that the Indian cricket board was awarding him after Rohit Sharma and co-won the T20 World Cup 2024 by defeating South Africa in the final in Barbados. Rahul Dravid opted to take an equal share of the prize bonus as the rest of his support staff. The BCCI awarded the entire contingent INR 125 crore after India broke the ICC title drought last year.

Sunil Gavaskar has now asked whether Gautam Gambhir, the current India head coach, would follow in Dravid's footsteps. He also raised the point of Gautam Gambhir's silence, as the former India opening batter is yet to react to the prize money the BCCI is giving out.

How much is being given to head coach Gautam Gambhir and the rest of the support staff is unknown. The board announced the total prize money as INR 58 crore in an official statement.

"After the ICC T20 World Cup win and the Board announcement of prize money, the then-coach Rahul Dravid, ever the team man, refused to accept more than his fellow members of the coaching staff and, in fact, shared it equally with his colleagues," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

"It’s been a fortnight since the BCCI announced the Champions Trophy rewards, but we haven’t heard anything from the current coach on whether he will also do a Dravid. Or is it that Dravid, in this instance, is not a good role model?" he added.

'BCCI now awash with funds'

Gavaskar credited the Indian cricket board for rewarding players who won the eight-team Champions Trophy. Earlier, Rohit Sharma and his team defeated New Zealand in the final to win the Champions Trophy for the third time. India remained undefeated in the entire tournament.

"Now, after our boys won the Champions Trophy, the BCCI announced a whopping ₹58 crore for the squad and the support staff and selection committee. In July last year, after the stirring victory in the ICC T20 World Cup, the BCCI announced ₹125 crore for the squad, support staff, and selectors," Gavaskar wrote.

"This is truly fantastic, as the Board, which is now awash with funds, is showing its appreciation for the efforts put in by everybody and rewarding them generously. The BCCI is also letting the players keep the prize money that the ICC announced for the winners, which is also a good amount each," he added.

Gavaskar also compared the current times to the 1983 World Cup. Back then, every member of the tournament-winning squad had gotten INR 1 lakh as a reward.