Sunil Gavaskar has launched a strong counter-attack against Nasser Hussain following the latter's criticism of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) concerning the T20 World Cup 2026 controversy. Hussain had indirectly urged the BCCI to acknowledge its responsibilities that come with its financial power and to promote a more balanced global cricketing environment. Gavaskar, without directly naming Hussain, responded to these remarks in his column in Sportstar, calling such views "jaundiced" and indicative of an old guard uncomfortable with India's rise in global cricket.
The controversy arose after Pakistan threatened to boycott their T20 World Cup 2026 clash against India, and Bangladesh refused to send its team to India citing security concerns. Hussain, speaking on Sky Sports, questioned the ICC's decision to remove Bangladesh from the tournament after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) refused to send its team to India, citing 'security concerns'. He admired Bangladesh for "sticking to their guns" in support of Mustafizur Rahman and accused the ICC of double standards, suggesting that if India had raised similar concerns, the situation would have been handled differently. He also advocated equal treatment for India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Gavaskar retorted by recalling instances where powerful cricket boards, namely England and Australia, had been favored in the past. He cited England's refusal to play in Zimbabwe during the 2003 World Cup due to political reasons as an example, emphasizing that the ICC took no action against them at the time. Gavaskar stated, "There are some others, especially from the old powers, for whom India replacing them as the power centre of world cricket has never gone down well". He added that these critics were quick to question whether the ICC would have acted differently if India had refused to play in a particular country.
Gavaskar also pointed out that India had already refused to tour Pakistan for the Champions Trophy last year, after which the ICC arranged India's matches at a neutral venue in the UAE. He clarified that India had informed the ICC well in advance, even before the draw was made, and stressed that no Indian government would allow its players to tour Pakistan due to security concerns.
In his column, Gavaskar also alluded to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's performance in the U19 World Cup final against England, where Sooryavanshi scored a blistering 175 off 80 balls. Gavaskar used this as a metaphor, stating, "Now, what young Sooryavanshi did is bullying, and not the imaginary kind that some jaundiced people see". This was in reference to Hussain's comments on the perceived bullying by the BCCI.
Gavaskar further criticized the hypocrisy within the ICC, pointing out that even the representative in the ICC voted against Bangladesh, yet the blame is solely placed on the BCCI. He argued that double standards have always existed in international cricket.