Gautam Gambhir hits back at Sunil Gavaskar over his comment on ICC Champions Trophy prize money

India won the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 title under Gautam Gambhir’s coaching.

Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir has indirectly taken a dig at Sunil Gavaskar over his comment on the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 prize money. Earlier in March, the Indian Cricket Team won the ICC tournament in Dubai by defeating New Zealand in the final.

Rohit Sharma was the captain, while Gambhir was the head coach of the team. Later, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced monetary rewards for the Indian Team and the support staff after their victory. The Indian Cricket Board announced a cash prize of Rs. 58 crore for the team and support staff.

Interestingly, when Team India won the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 last year under head coach Rahul Dravid, the latter refused the additional INR 2.5 crore reward for himself. He also shared the monetary reward equally with his support staff members.

Indian cricket is not someone’s property: Gautam Gambhir

On a similar note, Sunil Gavaskar questioned Gautam Gambhir in March whether he would do the same for the Champions Trophy reward.

“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 Sportsstar.

“It’s been a fortnight since the BCCI announced the Champions Trophy rewards, but wehaven’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? The 75-year-old had further added.

Now, during an event by Indian news channel ABP News in Delhi on Tuesday (May 6), Gambhir was asked about his opinions on the same. The former India opener took an indirect dig at Gavaskar and said some people question everything he does. He also added that Indian cricket is not someone’s personal property but the identity of Indian people.

“Some people have been sitting in the commentary box for 20-25 years. They questioned everything I did. They think that indian cricket is their property. Unfortunately, indian cricket is not someone’s property. It is the identity of 140 crore indians and will remain that way. They questioned my coaching, my records, my concussions, and even my prize money”, Gambhir said.

Notably, Rohit Sharma & Co. were the undefeated side in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, and they defeated the Kiwis by four wickets in the final to lift the title. Gambhir took over as the head coach of Team India after Dravid’s tenure ended in June last year.

Although Team India failed to defend the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2025 earlier this year, they bounced back by winning another ICC title within a year. It was Gambhir’s first ICC event as the head coach of the Indian Cricket Team.

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