Sunil Gavaskar: Worth checking whether commitments on both sides were honoured during Messi’s Kolkata visit

In the recently released Hindi film Dhurandhar, there’s a scene where the Chief of the Indian Intelligence Bureau says, “Indians are India’s worst enemies, then Pakistan.” Of course, it’s a filmy dialogue and has to be seen in the context of the story unfolding on the screen. As someone who has been involved with Indian cricket for more than six decades, starting at the school level, I have seen how, for personal ambitions or grievances, and sometimes even misconceptions and perceived slights, Indian cricket has been dragged by Indians through the mud and its reputation spoiled.

A few days before writing this piece, speculation surfaced that the current broadcast rights holders for ICC cricket were going to walk away from their contractual obligations and leave the ICC in the lurch for the remaining two years of the agreement. There was a flurry of reports until a joint statement from both the ICC and the broadcast rights holder clarified that everything was fine and there was no basis for the claims.

The broadcast rights holder is an Indian company and one of the largest conglomerates in the world, and the current ICC Chair and CEO are also Indians. The first version of this speculative story appeared in an Indian publication.

The joint statement clearly showed that the speculation was unfounded, but it wasn’t altogether surprising that it was an Indian trying to create trouble for fellow Indians. We have had 18 years of the IPL, each a bigger blockbuster than the last, yet every year, within a week or a fortnight of the start of one of the top five sporting properties in the world, we read that viewership has fallen or advertising is not the same as in earlier years. Negative narratives that resurface every few days during the tournament. Why? What pleasure do these Indians get in trying to belittle an Indian sporting property that is the envy of the rest of the world?

Do you ever read such stories in British papers about the English Premier League or Wimbledon or the British Open golf, or even Formula One? Or in American papers about the AFL and the Super Bowl, or in Australian papers about something being wrong with the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne or the New Year’s Test in Sydney or the Australian Open tennis event? At least I haven’t read, heard or seen speculative or negative stories about the marquee tournaments in these countries. If anything, they go out of their way to project their events as the best in the world. Try arguing with a Brit by comparing the Spanish La Liga with the English Premier League or questioning Lord’s as the home of cricket. See what happens. And here we are, trying to pull down Indians who have taken India to the top, just for a few headlines and a few hundred views or followers.

This is not to suggest that Indian cricket is beyond criticism. If anything, every Indian cricket lover should have the right to express honest views so that Indian cricket can progress and prosper. But writing speculative and critical pieces purely for eyeballs damages Indian cricket, from whose ecosystem we all make a rupee or two.

Even the recent episode at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, where the Argentinian footballer, Lionel Messi, made a far shorter appearance than promised, was blamed on everyone except the person who failed to honour his commitment. What his agreement was is not public knowledge, but if he was meant to be at the stadium for an hour, then by leaving well before that time and disappointing fans who had paid good money, the real culprit was he and his entourage. Yes, he was surrounded by politicians and so-called VIPs, but there was no security threat to him or his entourage. Was he supposed to simply walk around the stadium, or do something tangible like take a penalty kick? If it were the latter, those around him would automatically have had to move, and the crowd would have seen their hero do what they had come to watch.

The other appearances went smoothly because commitments were met. So before blaming fellow Indians in Kolkata, it might be worth checking whether commitments on both sides were honoured.

Otherwise, it will be exactly what the Chief of the Intelligence Bureau says in the movie, that “we Indians are India’s worst enemies”.

Published on Dec 15, 2025