"It's their good luck that has made them crores" - Sunil Gavaskar's scathing take on uncapped players post IPL 2025 final

Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar blasted the uncapped players, who earned huge money through the IPL after the conclusion of the 2025 season. Gavaskar's remarks came while paying tribute to Gujarat legend Priyank Panchal, who recently retired from competitive cricket.

The 35-year-old scored runs for fun in first-class cricket, finishing with almost 9000 runs at an average of over 45 in 127 matches. The right-hander also amassed over 5,000 in the domestic white-ball formats but never played for India or the IPL.

Talking about the disparity in pay between the uncapped IPL players and Ranji Trophy stars in his column for Sportstar, Gavaskar said:

"The argument that it is market forces is not really valid, for more often than not, it is sheer good fortune as some franchises want to take a punt with young talent. Have a look at the uncapped crorepatis throughout the IPL, and you will find that very few have gone on to do big things for India. It’s their good luck that has made them the crores that they actually don’t deserve."

He added:

"It is not their fault if franchises splurge on them, but then when you see somebody like Panchal spend his whole youth playing the game in all conditions as stated above, and then not even finish with half the amount that some uncapped youngster gets, it makes others also wonder whether it’s worth playing in the national tournament, the Ranji Trophy."

The IPL 2025 saw several uncapped youngsters make a mark and set themselves up for lucrative contracts in the future. Punjab Kings (PBKS), who finished runners-up, often featured six to seven uncapped players in their XI through the season.

"Would make more players turn up for the Ranji Trophy instead of feigning injury" - Sunil Gavaskar workaround mechanism

Sunil Gavaskar urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to add a slab system that varies based on matches played in the Ranji Trophy. He suggested that such a mechanism would prevent players from going cautious and skipping the Ranji Trophy to participate in the IPL.

"The BCCI has increased the match fees in recent times, and that’s very good, but if they add the slab system of fees whereby those who play more matches get more, then that would make more players turn up for the Ranji Trophy instead of feigning injury just a month or so before the IPL starts, so that they don’t get injured and miss out on the IPL," said Gavaskar (via aforementioned source).

The former World Cup winner also pushed for an increase in the prize money for the Ranji Trophy knockouts to further prevent the players from prioritizing the IPL.