Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar came down heavily on speculations about no Indian presence in the Pakistan-World XI T20I series. Speaking exclusively to NDTV, Gavaskar said he wasn't surprised by the fact no Indian player was part of the World XI. According to the legendary batsman, India's domestic season and the series against Australia was the reason behind no Indian participation in the series. "I am not surprised that no Indian player is part of the World XI as India has got its season, they are playing their domestic cricket and also preparing for the ODIs against Australia. So it is totally understandable that no Indian player is playing in that game and anybody other than the top 20 players that we have, I don't think would actually fit into a World XI," he said.
I don't think it is something that we should be giving a lot of thought to and when we talk about Indian players, I think when it comes to Pakistan Super League, have you seen any Indians around in the Pakistan Super League while Pakistanis, particularly commentators have been part of the Indian Premier League. So it is something that's got to be done both ways and not just one-sided," Gavaskar stated.
Commenting on whether discarded Indian cricketers like Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh or Gautam Gambhir, who are not part of the Indian team at the moment, could have been a part of the World XI, Gavaskar responded by saying, "But were they picked? Were they asked? That's the question. Like I am saying for the Pakistan Super League are India commentators asked to come or Indian umpires come and asked to officiate. They are not. So presumably, if they were not asked, how can they go and how can they play. They can't turn down and say, 'Please pick me, please pick me.' That's the height of desperation."
Gavaskar also came out in support of former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie, who has advised the visiting Australian team against sledging Indian skipper Virat Kohli. Gavaskar reckoned sledging Kohli will just make him more determined and make him try harder. The former India opener also predicted a 4-1 ODI series win for India and said that Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal would be more than adequate replacement for Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.