Home
Following the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) recent announcement of a whopping Rs 58 crore cash prize for India's Champions Trophy 2025-winning squad, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has raised an interesting point. He questioned whether India head coach Gautam Gambhir would follow the precedent set by his predecessor, Rahul Dravid, and decline to accept an amount exceeding that of the other members of the support staff.
It's worth recalling that former head coach Rahul Dravid chose not to accept an additional Rs 2.5 crore that BCCI intended to award him after Rohit Sharma and the team gunned down South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2024 final in Barbados. Instead, Rahul Dravid opted for an equal share of the prize bonus, aligning himself with the rest of his dedicated support staff. This decision came after the BCCI awarded the entire Indian contingent a significant INR 125 crore following India's breakthrough victory in the ICC tournament the previous year.
Sunil Gavaskar has now turned his attention to Gautam Gambhir questioning whether he will emulate Rahul Dravid's gesture of refusing a larger share of the BCCI's prize money. Gavaskar also noted Gautam Gambhir's current silence on the matter, observing that the former India opening batsman has yet to publicly comment on the substantial prize money being distributed by the BCCI.
It’s been a fortnight since the BCCI announced the Champions Trophy rewards: Sunil Gavaskar on Gautam Gambhir
The exact amount allocated to head coach Gautam Gambhir and the rest of the support staff remains undisclosed. The BCCI's official statement only detailed the total prize money awarded to the victorious squad, which amounts to INR 58 crore.
"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 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?," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
Gavaskar also lauded BCCI for their gesture of rewarding the Indian players who won their third Champions Trophy title. India defeated New Zealand in the Champions Trophy 2025 final to win their second ICC title in a span of one year.
"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 concluded.
