Sunil Gavaskar upset after not being invited to present BGT with Allan Border
Sydney, Jan 5: The legendary Sunil Gavaskar on Sunday expressed his displeasure after not being invited to present the trophy, named after him and Allan Border, to Australia following their win over India in the high-voltage five-match rubber.
Australia reclaimed the Border-Gavaskar trophy after 10 years with a six-wicket win over India in the fifth and final Test.
Border presented the trophy to the home team but Gavaskar, despite being at the venue at the same time, was inexplicably ignored.
"I certainly would have loved to have been there for the presentation. After all it is the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and it is about Australia and India," Gavaskar was quoted as saying by Code Sports.
"I mean, I am here on the ground. To me it should not matter that Australia won when it comes to the presentation. They played better cricket so they won. That's fine."
"Just because I am an Indian. I would have been happy to present the trophy with my good friend Allan Border," he added.
Had the Indian team won the trophy, Gavaskar would have been invited to present it to the victorious side.
Cricket Australia (CA) later confirmed that Gavaskar was aware he would have presented the award to Indian captain Jasprit Bumrah if the tourists had won the Sydney Test and retained the trophy.
"We acknowledge it would have been preferable if both Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar had been asked to go on stage," a CA spokesperson said in a statement.
Both India and Australia have been competing for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy since 1996-1997 and the rivalry has grown to become one of the biggest in Test cricket.
The five-match series that Australia won drew record crowds at multiple venues and broke an 87-year-old attendance record at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last week.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
HC seeks govt reply on tourist vehicles blocking tigress' path in Maharashtra sanctuary
Nagpur (PTI): The Bombay High Court has taken a dim view of an incident where safari vehicles carrying tourists obstructed the movement of a tigress and her cubs in Maharashtra's Umred-Pauni-Karhandla Sanctuary on New Year's eve.
Justices Nitin Sambre and Vrushali Joshi of the HC's Nagpur bench on Monday issued notice to the state's principal chief conservator of forests and sought a detailed affidavit on action taken and preventive measures.
The bench will hear the plea on Wednesday.
In the viral videos of the December 31, 2024 incident, safari vehicles are seen crowding around the tigress, identified as F-2, and her five cubs from both sides of a road in the buffer zone of the sanctuary here to help tourists capture their photos and videos.
The HC took suo motu (on its own) cognisance of the videos and news reports on the incident.
The state forest department on Monday suspended four drivers and guides involved in the incident for three months.
A fine of Rs 25,000 has also been imposed on the gypsy SUV drivers, while nature guides have been fined Rs 1,000 each. Besides, cases have been registered against them under relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Pench Tiger Reserve (Nagpur) deputy director Prabhu Nath Shukla in a release said the tourists violated the sanctuary's rule by blocking the path of the tigress F2 and her five cubs with multiple safari vehicles at Gothangaon in Kuhi wildlife range.
Tourists involved in this incident have been permanently banned from future visits to the sanctuary and a committee, headed by the deputy director, Bor Tiger Reserve, has been constituted to recommend measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
Shukla stated that field officers and staff have been instructed to increase regular patrolling along safari routes to prevent such incidents. Additionally, special meetings and workshops are being organised for nature guides and gypsy drivers to raise awareness and sensitivity toward ecotourism.
