Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has rubbished claims of India bullying Pakistan amid the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 row and has claimed that the country was simply minding its own business. His remarks come in response to ex-PCB chairman Najam Sethi claiming that Pakistan were being bullied by the BCCI and that the decision to not play against India on February 15 was right. Gavaskar pointed out that India had always made the first move and noted that Pakistanis had been heavily involved in Indian cricket in the past as well.
India not bullying Pakistan: Gavaskar
Speaking to India Today, Gavaskar questioned how many Indian actors or singers had been invited to act or perform in Pakistan even before the prevailing strained relation between the two countries. He said that India had always made the first move and had made efforts to reach out to Pakistan, and not the other way around. Gavaskar recalled that Pakistan players had even played in the IPL and many former cricketers from the country had also been on the commentary panel.
“It is always we who are making that first move, we are the ones who are always you know reaching out, so that is the only thing that I was saying, when we talked about this bullying and stuff like that, that was going on, we are not, we are not bullying anybody, we are just minding our own business,” Gavaskar said.
Gavaskar further claimed that Pakistan were already aware of India’s unwillingness to travel to the country for Champions Trophy and that they were informed well in advance that the team would play all their matches at a neutral venue in Dubai. The former Indian cricketer advised Pakistan to stand up to India if they truly believe that they were being bullied.
“No, we are not. Give me examples. It is the easiest thing to say that we are bullying. Everything is out there before the first ball of the tournament is bowled. Before the Champions Trophy, India had clearly said that they wouldn’t go to Pakistan so all their matches were played in Dubai. That was known long before the tournament started,” said Gavaskar.
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