Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has strongly criticized South African legend AB de Villiers for his recent remarks on Shreyas Iyer’s exclusion from India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad.
De Villiers, speaking on his YouTube channel, had speculated that there might be “something behind the scenes” regarding Iyer’s omission, suggesting that the decision couldn’t have been made solely on performance grounds. He even hinted that Iyer’s presence could have caused an “ego clash” within the team, while pointing out the batter’s recent form in the IPL and domestic cricket.
Gavaskar Hits Back at AB de Villiers
Reacting sharply, Gavaskar wrote in his Sportstar column that it was unnecessary for foreign cricketers to comment on India’s internal matters.
“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒏𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒆, 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒖𝒆𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆. 𝑯𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔,” 𝑮𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒂𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅.
The former opener further stressed that Indian cricketers never interfere in selection issues of other countries, so overseas stars should extend the same courtesy.
“𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙-𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔’ 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔? 𝑵𝒐, 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Indian Media Also Criticized
Gavaskar didn’t stop at de Villiers; he also targeted sections of the Indian media for seeking validation from foreign players. He argued that many ex-international stars comment on Indian cricket only to increase their social media popularity.
He highlighted how Indian journalists often chase retired overseas cricketers for opinions during tours. According to Gavaskar, this unnecessary habit fuels outside interference.
“It’s almost as if validation about Indian cricket and its cricketers has to be obtained from overseas players,” Gavaskar wrote.
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