India’s legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar came under the scanner when the allegations of conflict of interest were issued on him. He was asked to choose between commentary and the Professional Management Group (PMG) that manages cricketers. Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan are the players managed by Gavaskar’s agency.
The issue of conflict of interest opened up when Ramchandra Guha, a former member of the BCCI’s Committee of Administrators (CoA), hammered Gavaskar’s professional links with the players.
“Sunil Gavaskar is head of a company which represents Indian cricketers while commenting on those cricketers as part of the BCCI TV commentary panel. This is a clear conflict of interest. Either he must step down/withdraw himself from PMG completely or stop being a commentator for BCCI,” Ramchandra Guha had said.
To allow Gavaskar to continue as a commentator, the agency has shut down the management of the 4 players. PMG has informed those players to look for new agencies. “We have informed the players that we’re not going manage them. You can check with them,” a company source said. Players did not wish to be quoted but a couple of them have confirmed being informed about the agency shut down.
BCCI yet to act
Even though Gavaskar’s agency has decided to shut down the management of the players yet the BCCI is still to make a move on it. The former captain is still a vital part of the PMG firm and it’s yet to be known whether the board is happy with the move or not.
A few officials of BCCI wanted Gavaskar to completely detach from the firm. It remains to be seen what the board decides as Sunil Gavaskar is slated to be a part of the commentary panel for the limited overs series between India Australia starting September 17.
