Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri assured us cricket can be large in India: Virender Sehwag recollects first IPL public sale

Virender Sehwag acknowledged that the 1983 World Cup champions Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri assured him that cricket would develop into big in India in the course of the first-ever IPL public sale.

New Delhi ,UPDATED: Feb 16, 2023 21:13 IST

Virender Sehwag says cash was secondary throughout first-ever IPL public sale. (Photo: PTI)

By India Today Web Desk: The Indian Premier League (IPL) revolutionised cricket in India. There have been doubts and cricketers have been sceptical as to how the public sale and the league would pan out.

Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag recalled the first-ever IPL public sale when he was with the Indian workforce on tour of Australia. He stated that it was Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri who approached the gamers and guaranteed them that within the coming years the league would develop into big in India.

“A lot of time has passed since the inception of the IPL. My children have become adults and they’ve started playing cricket too. But I will never forget the first time we were briefed about this when we were in Australia,” Sehwag stated on Star Sports’ present ‘The Incredible Awards’.

“Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri approached us and said that there is going to be an Indian Premier League and they were asking for all our rights. So, we were wondering whether the league would be successful or not – what if after giving away our rights we do not gain anything from it.

“But they assured us that the approaching years can be very large for cricket in India and no matter rights we grant to this league, we can earn far more than that. Money was secondary on the time, however we didn’t know that the league would give rise to so many children who would in the future exchange us and develop into stars.”

Over the years, the IPL has develop into one of many biggest tournaments on the earth. In 2022, the BCCI added two new groups to make it a 10-team league. The sixteenth version of the IPL is prone to start on the finish of March 2023.

Published On:

Feb 16, 2023