The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced a cash prize of INR 58 crore for the India National Cricket Team that won the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 earlier this month. Reacting to the reward, Sunil Gavaskar has raised an interesting question whether Gautam Gambhir opts to follow the path of his predecessor, Rahul Dravid, when it comes to accepting the prize.
During his tenure as head coach, Rahul Dravid set a notable example after India’s triumph in the T20 World Cup 2024. Despite the BCCI awarding him an additional INR 2.5 crore, Dravid declined the extra amount and instead decided to take the same prize share as the rest of the support staff.
Sunil Gavaskar wonders if Gautam Gambhir will refuse extra prize money like Rahul Dravid
At that time, the BCCI had given a total prize of INR 125 crore to the entire squad after India ended an 11-year wait for an ICC trophy by defeating South Africa in the final. Now, with Gautam Gambhir in charge, Gavaskar has questioned whether he will follow the same principle.
The former Indian captain also pointed out Gautam Gambhir’s silence on the matter, as the current head coach has not yet responded to the prize money announced by the BCCI. However, it is unclear how much head coach Gautam Gambhir and the support staff will receive as a reward from the total prize this time.
We haven’t heard anything from the current coach, Gautam Gambhir: Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar: “After the ICC T20 World Cup win and the Board announcement of prize money, the then-coach Rahul Dravid, ever the team man, refused to accept more than his fellow members of the coaching staff and shared it equally with his colleagues.”
The legendary batter added, “It’s been a fortnight since the BCCI announced the Champions Trophy rewards, but we haven’t heard anything from the current coach on whether he will also do a Dravid. Or is it that Dravid, in this instance, is not a good role model?”