A message has gone viral on social media which quotes former cricket Sunil Gavaskar as saying, “I am ashamed to call myself Indian. This is the worst Cricket World Cup. Empty stadiums, no scoreboard, pathetic management from BCCI.” A post sharing this quote alleges that he made this comment on Star Sports. Let’s fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: Sunil Gavaskar criticised BCCI over poor management of the ongoing cricket World Cup 2023 on Star Sports channel.
Fact: He has not made such statements. Sunil Gavaskar denied this allegation, saying, “…i would never be ashamed to be an Indian. I am and will always remain a proud Indian.” Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
Firstly, we searched the internet to find if any mainstream media outlets have reported on Sunil Gavaskar making such statements. This search did not yield any credible sources to validate the viral claim.
Further search on the internet led us to a fact-check article published by India Today debunking the claim. Speaking to them, Sunil Gavaskar denied these allegations and said, “Those who know me understand that I would never be ashamed to be an Indian. I am and will always remain a proud Indian.”
Similar comments were attributed to him in September 2023 after which his son Rohan Gavaskar clarified that they were fake on his X (formerly Twitter) handle.
To sum up, Sunil Gavaskar has not made these statements criticising BCCI for the poor management of the World Cup.
