New Delhi: 

India head coach Gautam Gambhir ripped into former India captain Sunil Gavaskar over his comments on the Champions Trophy prize money.

Gambhir hit back at Gavaskar, who had questioned the India head coach, asking him if he would follow his predecessor Rahul Dravid in refusing bonus prize money by the BCCI for the team’s Champions Trophy triumph and if he would accept only as much as his other support staff.

England Test series crucial for Gautam Gambhir:

India’s upcoming tour of England will be a crucial one for head coach Gautam Gambhir, considering the results have not gone in the team’s favour in their last two Test assignments. India suffered a humiliating 0-3 Test series loss at home against New Zealand before losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 3-1 against Australia.

India will be desperately hoping to return to winning ways in the Test series against England, which gets underway in June this year. Gambhir will have a crucial role to play in squad selection ahead of the all-important series as the BCCI and the team management contemplate captaincy options with Rohit Sharma’s future under the scanner.

“The prize money that I got in the Champions Trophy. I don’t need to tell this country where I left the money and where I invested it. But this country should know that such people have been working in the country as NRIs for so many years.

They earn money from the country and take it abroad. I don’t do security checks or immigration at 11:55. I don’t need to spend only 180 days. I am an Indian and will remain an Indian till my last breath. I won’t become an NRI to save taxes,” added the India head coach.

When asked by the host if he would like to name the former cricketer he was speaking about, Gambhir refused to do so and urged the media to find out who he is. Taking a dig, Gambhir said those who live in a house made of glass shouldn’t be throwing stones at others.

“Absolutely not (When asked if he would like to name). It’s your job. Please do your research and let the people know who has been an NRI for how many years. People who live in glass houses shouldn’t be throwing stones at other people’s homes,” said Gambhir.

“It’s people’s job to criticise me, and they should criticise. But there are some people who have been sitting in the commentary box for 20-25 years. They have 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 it will remain that way. They questioned my coaching, my records, my concussions and even my prize money,” said Gambhir.

BCCI announced a total prize money of Rs 58 crore for the members of the Indian squad and the support staff after the Men in Blue lifted the Champions Trophy 2025 title by defeating New Zealand in the final. Gambhir was awarded Rs 3 crore while the rest of the support staff, including the assistant coaches got Rs 50 lakh each from the overall prize pool announced by the BCCI.

For the unversed, former India head coach Dravid was awarded a prize money of Rs 5 crore by the BCCI following India’s T20 World Cup 2025 triumph.

However, he refused the additional bonus of Rs 2.5 crore and decided to go for an equal share as his other support staff, who were awarded Rs 2.5 crore each. In his column for a newspaper, Gavaskar had asked if Gambhir would do the same after India’s Champions Trophy victory.

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